


Stand By Me: An AU Collection

by Shinocchi



Series: Same Heart; Different Universe [10]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, Illustrations, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:52:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 47,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2146296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinocchi/pseuds/Shinocchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a collection of short stories & drabbles & ficlets from different alternate universes. They may not be related to each other, but they hold the same meaning - no matter where these pairings are reincarnated, they would still find their way back to each other. </p><p>Random updates!</p><p>:::Updated:::<br/>||| <b>Just A Wish</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Kindergarten AU]<br/>||| <b>Nude</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Nude Model AU]<br/>||| <b>Just A Bit</b> - Koujaku x Noiz [Child AU]<br/>||| <b>one minute</b> - Koujaku x Aoba [Yokai AU]<br/>||| <b>Redemption</b> - Koujaku x Aoba [Samurai AU]<br/>||| <b>Shortlived</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Zombie AU]<br/>||| <b>Entranced</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Demon AU]<br/>||| <b>Owned</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Warlock AU]<br/>||| <b>Rusted Intensity</b> - Noiz x Aoba [Cyberpunk AU]<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sinful Beauty [Koujaku x Noiz]

**Author's Note:**

> So I've started accepting requests from [this](http://shino-cchi.tumblr.com/post/93646112929/fandom-writing-meme) & [this](http://shino-cchi.tumblr.com/post/94884699929/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-write-a-short-fic) memes, which are basically AU memes.  
> I accept requests, either from the two memes above, or if you have any alternate AU ideas you would like to share, feel free to drop me an ask on my tumblr or you could just mail me.
> 
> Probably one of these AUs will evolve into a multi-chap fic, who knows? :P
> 
> All of my work are self-beta'd. I apologize for any mistakes & errors.
> 
> Happy reading c:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Modern Era AU
> 
> I'm the shadow, you're the light. You shouldn't be involved with me.

Winter was… odd.

He never understood why people described ‘winter’ as beautiful, magnificent even. Every step he took left visible tracks behind him. It wasn't like him. Winter wasn't like him. He would never leave tracks.

That was the last thing he’d do.

Looking up at the cloudless sky, he gave out a soft sigh. It would turn dark soon. Although he didn't mind the dark, not even the cold, he couldn't help but frustrate over how troublesome it would be to find his way back when darkness fell.

He was about to leave when he felt something pulling on his thick winter coat. Looking down, he saw a small girl by his leg, tiny hand gripping at the corner of his coat and looking up at him. Her face was puffy red, flu was about to run down her nose as she hold a red flower up at him.

“D-do you… want to…” A sneeze. “…buy a flower?”

Noiz was stunned for a while before he squatted down, sharing the same eye level as the girl.

He stared at her for mere seconds before he shifted his gaze to the basket full of red flowers.

“I’ll buy everything,” he said with a small voice, instantly causing the little girl to brighten her eyes in surprise, as if her ears were playing trick at her.

Without waiting for her to respond, Noiz took some cash out of his coat pocket and stuff it into the girl’s pocket, taking the basket off her hand in the process. Standing up, he was about to leave but halted when he felt another pull from below.

“T-thank you! Big brother!”

He looked down again. The little girl was almost bursting into tears but she held them in, although the constant sniffing of her nose told Noiz enough that she was about to break down.

She reminded him of himself.

Bending down again, Noiz took his scarf off and wrapped it around the little girl.

“Go home. Go back to your family,” he mumbled.

And he left, without another word.

 

A few minutes of walk later and he decided that the town was no longer interesting to him. His footsteps were heavy as he walked passed a few rows of shop, ultimately standing in front of a building he was more than familiar with. His breath came out in the form of white smoke as he walked up the stair casually, just to be disappointed when he realized that the owner wasn't in.

Clicking his tongue, Noiz took out his phone.

“Yes?”

“Where are you?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m in front of your house. You’re not in.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m outside.”

“Where?”

“It’s okay, I’m coming back soon.”

Noiz was silent for a few seconds before he sighed again.

“Send me your location. I’m going over there.”

“Eh? No, it’s fine! I’m quite far awa—“

“Just send it over.”

Noiz’s stern voice overpowered the timidity of the other voice as he heard a few coughs before the other man spoke again.

“Fine.”

It took an hour for Noiz to finally reach the place. When he arrived at the top of the hill, he immediately found the person he was looking for. He wasn't too hard to miss, not when he possessed such a strong aura that often drew not only blessings but also trouble to him.

“Yo, you really came!” The man waved at him, then patting at the empty space beside him. “Come here.”

Noiz obeyed.

Sitting silently on the patch of white, they stared at the darkening sky without a word at each other.

“By the way,” Koujaku broke the silence as he pointed at the basket of flower beside Noiz. “Is that a present for me? I didn't know you can be so romantic.”

He ended his sentence with a chuckle.

Noiz shrugged. Then, he reached into the basket and pulled one of the reds out, waving it in front of Koujaku before putting it into the older man’s palm.

“It reminds me of you,” he said inaudibly, effectively earning a loud laugh from the man beside him.

“Well, thanks for reminding me how scarred I am, brat,” Koujaku said, ruffling Noiz hair and twirling the branch in between his fingers in another hand.

It was another few seconds of quiet, then.

“I think it’s beautiful.”

He didn't intend to surprise Koujaku like that. Even if that was his intention, Koujaku should be used to it, seeing how this brat summoned surprises like it was the most natural thing for him to do. But his ‘surprises’ still caught him off guard. Probably he would never get used to them after all.

Gaping momentarily at Noiz, Koujaku’s expression softened, a tender smile now forming on his features.

“I didn't expect that,” he said, his voice now softer than before.

“Didn't expect me to compliment you?”

“That, and,” Koujaku gave out a soft cough, attempting to hide his fluster before he continued. “I didn't expect to hear that word from you again.”

It was true. Noiz had been living a dark life, a life away from the light, away from everything that was beautiful. So naturally, nothing was beautiful for him.

Nothing was worth that compliment. Nothing except…

He didn't comment further. Instead, he leaned back and stared at the sky.

“I’m expecting you to return the gift.”

Koujaku gave out another loud laugh.

“Wow, so that’s your intention, huh?”

“Equivalent exchange. That’s what I live for,” Noiz replied nonchalantly.

“Yeah, yeah. You and your life theory.”

He heard rustling sounds and turning sideway, he saw Koujaku lying down beside him, pointing at the sky.

“I can return that favor now,” the older man said gleefully.

As Noiz shot him a curious stare, Koujaku nudged him to look at what he was pointing.

“You see that brightest star over there? I’m gifting it to you.”

That drew a sarcastic smirk out of Noiz.

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Yeah, I promise I will,” Koujaku responded with a firm tone. “I’ll give you a life filled with light, and a future as bright as that star.”

_I’ll get you out of the shadow one day._

The only way he could relate to winter was how the season complemented his heart; but meeting  _this man_ , a personification of summer, a totally opposite of him, changed him as a person. He was just like the red flowers – standing out in the midst of white, a sign of passion. But if you observed carefully, you would realize that despite being so strikingly beautiful, the color also carried the meanings of ‘blood’, ‘scar’ and ‘sin’, an inescapable fate concealed beneath the virtue.

Koujaku may not appreciate how he was related to that color.

But for Noiz, it was a color which would dye his dull, blank white existence with  _life_.

And not even the snow could taint this sinful beauty.

 

* * *

 

> **AU** : Modern Era AU - the same universe as the story above.
> 
> _This was a request from[kingkein](http://kingkein.tumblr.com/) with the prompt "Person A falls of a structure, right into Person B's arm"._

 

It was another day of patrolling. As a senior detective, there wasn't a need for him to stroll around the streets like this. But Koujaku insisted to take this as part of his job scope, saying something about wanting to see for himself the way polices in town do things.

The town he was in was pretty peaceful – no major criminal outbreaks, no massive killings, simply harmony.

Except one thing.

There had been cases of bank smuggling that had been happening over time, causing certain big companies to lose big bucks of money, some even at the verge of announcing bankruptcy. It didn't matter to Koujaku, especially when he knew that these companies were the ones involved with black markets. He wanted to crush them. But as much as he wanted to do that, there weren’t enough evidences to support his case, and most of the time he’d let all the chances go just because of this societal unfairness. 

When he first heard of these illegal financial hacking stuff spreading like wildfire amongst these prominent corporations, he wanted to simply abandon their cases – he even wanted to laugh out loud at them – but his sense of responsibility got the better of him as he was urged by pressure from the top to follow on the case.

Even so, there wasn't anything he could do anyway. Whoever was behind the case left no tracks at all. He, or she, whoever it was, was definitely cautious. And it left Koujaku with no choice but to wait for evidences to magically appear in front of him before he could proceed.

Assuming that it’d be another unproductive day, Koujaku gave out a yawn. He was stretching when he heard loud noises from above, looking up just in time to see someone falling straight right on him.

“Woah, woah!” he shrieked, reflexively lurching forward and positioning himself to grab hold of the falling person.

The weight fell on him, and he was even surprised to realize that his bones were still intact despite the heavy, destructive pressure.

“Watch there, kid,” he said. As he was about to take a good look at the person, the person gave him a smirk, grasping his wrist and making a run.

“Oi! What are you doing?!” Koujaku shouted. But it didn't take too long for him to realize exactly why this blonde-haired dude was running. Because in the next second, he heard hurried footsteps behind him and instantly, he knew that they were being chased.

_By polices._

No matter how loud he shouted at him, and no matter how many questions he threw at him, the man grasping him ignored him completely. He was pretty confident with his strength, but for some reason, the grasp on his wrist proved him otherwise, leaving him with no choice but to run along with the stranger, stopping only when they barged into an empty, abandoned warehouse.

“Let go of me,” Koujaku finally protested, sweeping the stranger’s hand off furiously in the process.

It was by then that he finally got to have a good look at the stranger’s face. Beautiful features, gorgeous eyes, and on top of all… familiar. 

“You,” he mouthed, and his eyes brightened upon seeing the piece of CD sticking out of his front pocket. “You stole that company’s data.”

The person standing in front of him was none other than his neighbor, who also happened to be the owner of a huge corporation, so prominent that Koujaku was forced to keep an eye on this young landlord in case any assassin was to give him a surprise attack.

The ‘stranger’ gave out another smirk.

“That’s not the reason why you’re surprised, am I right?” he said, taking the CD out and waving it in front of Koujaku.

“You were running away from them,” Koujaku continued, acting as if he didn't hear what the younger man had just said. “Why would you do that?”

He was surprised. Not because he’d found out the mastermind behind all the crimes, but he was surprised of the reason  _why_  he had to do it.

Because he knew him too well, all too well to know that there wasn't a need for him to do so.

It was definitely not for money. He definitely didn't need to do that for money.

“Noiz,” he called out, instantly grabbing the other’s attention back at him.

Noiz shrugged.

“I can’t tell you why,” he said nonchalantly, putting the CD back to safety. “I don’t want to involve you in this.”

“Excuse me, young man, if it’s not obvious enough, I happen to be your bodyguard, you selfish, ignorant brat.”

Noiz gave out a hum before he gazed teasingly at Koujaku.

“Well, if that’s the case…” he trailed off, leaning forward so that their faces were merely inches away.

Before Koujaku could properly understand what was happening, he felt a soft sensation against his lips.

Noiz was kissing him. 

And if that didn’t make things worse, he heard a shutter sound from his side and he separated their kiss just in time to see Noiz snapping a picture of them.

“What’s this all about?” he raged, attempting to grab Noiz’s phone out of his hand but the younger one was too quick as he made a quick few steps back and checked on the photo he’d taken before he flashed it out at Koujaku.

“What do you think,  _sir_?” 

When Koujaku remained frozen, Noiz kept his phone away and folded his arms.

“As you wish, now you’re properly involved with me, a  _criminal_. What’re you going to do now,  _Officer?_ ”

He didn't know what was Noiz’s purpose, but what he knew was that he was in deep shit. And that he could probably kiss his career and his peaceful life goodbye now.

 


	2. Us At The Other Side of the World [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Person A and Person B both get picked for an exchange program halfway across the world.  
> Probably this was the reason why he was here – to discover new things, and to meet life-changing people like Noiz.

The first time he met him he thought he had landed himself in deep trouble.

The guy in front of him was obviously a foreigner, a gorgeous looking one indeed. Swallowing down his throat, he forced a smile out and strolled unhurriedly towards the blonde haired man who was supposed to be his roommate from today onward.

Using his very limited knowledge of English – assuming that this person in front of him should understand the supposedly common, international language – Aoba stuttered, frantically searching for vocabularies in his head to get his message across.

“My name is—“ he repeated, feeling extremely awkward now.

“Seragaki Aoba. From Japan, right?” 

The guy interrupted him, leaving his words hanging as Aoba gaped at him. He was sure he looked awfully stupid right now, judging on how the guy stood up and flashed him a smirk, visibly teasing him.

“It’s fine, I can understand Japanese,” the guy, who was slightly taller than him, said indifferently as he walked towards Aoba. “Besides, your English is so poor it’d make me feel bad if I don’t stop you.”

Instead of feeling embarrassed, what Aoba felt was instead a surge of fury, drawing a thin frown in between his eyebrows as he glared at the man in front of him.

“Yeah, well, since you know my name, mind telling me yours?”

The man never said anything. Instead, he went back to taking his stuff out of his luggage bag, looking up only when he realized Aoba was standing right beside him.

“What?” he asked, the expression on his face unreadable.

“Your name, mister,” Aoba said with a firmer tone than just now. Well, if his roommate was going to be a jerk then he needed to brace himself now. There was no way he would allow him to take advantage of him, especially not when he was almost 6000 miles away from home.

A few seconds of silence later, in which Aoba thought that this person was far too stubborn to respond to him…

“Noiz.”

His voice was small this time. But Aoba heard it, loud and clear.

***

Noiz was from Germany. And although he was physically here now, being part of this exchange program which Aoba was also part of, it was obvious that his mind was constantly elsewhere.

He wasn’t interested with the activities this program offered, most of the time with his eyes glued to his laptop. At first, Aoba thought that he had landed himself a massive headache. He thought Noiz would taunt him whenever he could, taking advantage over him, bullying him even.

But he was wrong. 

On the first week of them being each other’s roommates, Noiz merely kept to himself, with little to no words to Aoba while the other shot him a curious stare, unsure of what was in his mind. He didn’t have the courage to ask, nor did that he felt that he have the rights to ask.

They were only roommates, after all. As long as Noiz didn’t cross his line, he should be able to survive his three months of exchange program safely.

But he was wrong. Again.

Two weeks into their exchange program, Noiz pulled him back into their room when he was about to step out of it. He didn’t even have the time to adjust himself into the situation when Noiz closed the door behind him and trapped him against it, staring fervently into his eyes.

“W-what?” he asked. It was odd. He hadn’t figure out how to face Noiz yet; they didn’t really talk to each other in the first place. This was the first time he’d come so close to the young man, and when they locked gaze at each other, he was surprised to notice how beautiful Noiz’s eyes were. 

Was this a foreigner’s trait? He’d encountered people from other country himself, but Noiz was… different. He could tell that he was different from the others, but he couldn’t explain why.

“Skip classes today,” Noiz said, a small smile forming on his features as he closed the distance between them.

“Eh?”

“Come with me,” he continued.

And before Aoba could say anything, the pretty German boy was grasping on his wrist, dragging him out of their room and out of the building.

***

“Hey, hey, where are we going?!” Aoba asked, trying to struggle out of Noiz’s grasp but to no avail.

They were now on the street of London, surrounded by buildings and scenery Aoba wasn’t familiar with. Upon realizing that Noiz wasn’t going to answer his question, he kept quiet, panting as he kept up with Noiz’s pace, until they stopped in front of a fountain.

“Have you been here before?” Noiz asked, finally letting go of Aoba.

“No, this is my first time,” Aoba said, massaging on his wrist. “That’s why I joined the exchange program. To see new things from the other side of the world.”

Noiz hummed. Putting his hands in his pockets, he smirked at Aoba, who was now wearing a confused look on his face.

“Let’s take some time and look around today,” Noiz suggested.

“Huh?” Aoba’s eyes brightened, visibly surprised. “But class…”

“Who cares about that? You’re here to discover new things, not to be trapped in those four walls again. And besides,” Noiz glanced around, as if he was looking for something. “I’ve never been here before as well. At least there would be someone with me if I lost my way.”

“Is that the reason why you dragged me along?” Aoba scowled.

“Hmm,” Noiz gave out another hum, tilting his head up to look at the sky as he considered Aoba’s question. “Maybe?”

Aoba’s frown deepened but there was no time for him to retort further as he found himself walking down the streets with Noiz, hand-in-hand.

It was weird. This foreign exchange student was weird.

But there was nothing wrong with it.

At least the warmth he felt in his hand wasn’t something he disliked. And probably, this was the reason why he was here too – to discover new things, and to meet life-changing people like Noiz.


	3. The Name of Your Book [Koujaku x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Library AU
> 
> A request by [princelingmeow](http://www.princelingmeow.tumblr.com)
> 
> Sometimes one small thing leads to another, and probably when it happens, it would no longer be something small anymore.

_It’s that name again_.

Every time that name appeared in the system, Aoba couldn’t help but stare fixedly at it for a whole minute before he finally proceeded to register it into the waiting list. He wasn’t even sure why he’d acted that way. All he knew was that name gave his heart a crushing sensation and it puzzled him. 

Even when he had never came across this name (nor the person the name belonged to) his entire life, somehow, somewhere in his brain told him that he  _knew_  the name, or the person. He couldn’t be sure. 

It wasn’t such an unusual name, anyway. In fact, it was quite a common name if he actually took the effort to remember people’s name. He’d try to brush it off, convincing himself that he might have seen it somewhere but no matter how hard he’d tried to deceive himself, his deception wall crumbled the moment he came across the name. 

Again, and again.

Probably he knew the person. Probably he’d just forgotten about him (or her, he couldn’t be sure) due to the car crash he was involved in few years back. Ever since then, his memory had been a bit inaccurate. Perhaps that was the case.

After he was done with registering the name, he glanced at it again, feeling the familiar sense of attachment. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling such way; that was why he yearned for the answer. And that was why he  _needed_  to see this person for himself.

But whenever he was back to his librarian duty on the day he knew the person would come and collect his book - unsure if it was meant to be or he was simply unlucky - the book would be either claimed by the person earlier before he came in, or it’d still remained unclaimed at the counter. There was never a time when he actually came face to face with the said person.

Across time, this person became an enduring mystery. Not to mention that Aoba was  _already_  interested with him beforehand, the fact that the person kept borrowing the  _same_  book did nothing but further intensified his curiosity. _  
_

And before he knew it, he couldn’t stop thinking about this person. 

It was ironic, really. How the hell could he become so fixated with someone he’d never seen before? He didn’t even know how he sounded like, or even how he looked like.

But that weren’t the only questions that had been keeping his mind busy. Why would  _this person_  keep borrowing the  _same_  book? Did he not manage to finish it before the return date? 

Eventually, he started imagining how the person would look like. He needed to give him a face somehow. He always thought of him as a slender, tall, handsome man. He wasn’t even sure what had prompted him to shape him in such way. Probably he wouldn’t even be half as good looking as he imagined him to be. He could probably be a short, hideous stalker who was only obsessed with the smell of the book.

Who knows?

One day, no longer able to contain his curiosity, he slouched over the counter and flipped the book open, carefully looking through the content.

There was nothing special with the book, to be frank. It was just a book describing the different types of flower across the globe.

He wasn’t very interesting with the content but he kept flipping nevertheless, as if attempting to spot  _something else_  that would give him a hint of this person. 

And he did. 

He almost missed it but the elegant handwriting was literally shouting at him before he could close the book. There were fine writings on the very last page of the book.

“ _Don’t give up._ ”

It was just three simple words yet it managed to garner  _something_ out of Aoba. 

He knew that phrase.

Somewhere, sometime ago. He was certain he’d heard it before. And the person who’d said it to him was someone very important to him, as important as how the phrase was to him. The memory was so close, he could almost reach it. He could almost hear  _his_  voice now. Almost..

"Hey."

Jerking up, he slammed the book shut and hid it away from view.

"Can I have the book, please? I remember I reserved it."

When he looked up, a person was standing in front of the counter. Then, it suddenly hit him.

_He knew the person_.

In fact, he’d known him for the rest of his life.

How did he forget?

"K-Koujaku," he muttered after a gulp.

The person was as good looking as how he’d imagined him to be, perhaps even more so. Even his voice. It sounded the same. 

Koujaku froze for mere seconds before his expression softened as he gave Aoba a gentle smile.

"You finally remember."

Some things never changed. No matter far apart we were from each other, you never really lose the person you love.


	4. Language Barrier [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Person A falls in love with Person B - but they speak different languages.
> 
> A request from [phantom0146](http://phantom0146.tumblr.com/).
> 
> There is nothing that can stop their love, not even language barrier.

He never knew his name. The only thing he knew about him was ‘the beautiful green-eyed boy’.

When he first saw him in the playground, the small boy was sitting by himself, expressionless and merely staring at what other children were doing instead of joining them. He knew the small boy because of his blonde hair, which had stood out so magnificently amongst the other children. He also knew the boy because he had seen his parents dropping him off in front of their school gate.

He had seen the boy around; and he knew that he was in the same kindergarten as him. 

But he never got to talk to him. The little boy seemed distant; and he wasn’t sure if he even wanted company.

It was one fine day when they were put into groups for a class activity that he found himself paired up with him. It was awkward. He didn’t know what to say to him but he knew that he needed to do something. So, gulping down his throat and trying very hard to ignore the loud heartbeats pounding in his ears, he started.

“H-hi! My name is Aoba. What is your name?”

He was sure that he sounded friendly enough, but the lack of response from the little boy made him suspect his choice of words.

The small boy gave him a blank stare before he turned away, seemingly uncertain of what was going on.

Then, it occurred to Aoba.

Could it be that he couldn’t understand what he was saying? Well, if that was true, then everything would make sense. That would explain why he was so distant from everyone else. Perhaps he couldn’t understand what everyone was saying. He simply couldn’t relate to them.

Believing that to be the case, Aoba swallowed again before he reached out to tap on the little boy’s shoulder. 

“I,” he mouthed, pointing at himself as the small boy turned around to look at him again. Then, glancing around the place, Aoba gave out a cheerful grin upon finding what he was looking for. He throttled away, coming back with a few pieces of paper and a pen in his hands.

“A-o-ba,” he spelled out loud for the boy as he wrote his name down on the paper. Again, the boy kept staring at him, probably unsure of how to respond.

Unwilling to give up, Aoba pushed the pen into the small boy’s hand.

“You?” he asked, pointing at the boy.

The boy seemed pretty surprised with Aoba’s initiative as he quirked a curious eyebrow at him. Then, he took a clean piece of paper and started scribbling on it.

Assuming that he’d finally gotten him to speak up, Aoba hummed happily, playing with the small stones around him before the small boy waved the paper in front of him, pulling him back to the matter in hand.

But the small boy never said anything to him. Instead, he folded the paper and put it into Aoba’s hand before he stood up, patting the sand off his shorts and running away.

Aoba could only stare at him, bemused. It was after a while that he finally opened the paper, his jaw dropped upon seeing what the boy had just drawn on it.

After that day, he never saw him again.

Until.

 

* * *

 

“I’m leaving!”

Hastily packing his things away, Aoba strolled out of the shop. He was in a great mood today, being managed to exceed his sales target. More sales meant more money and that was what he needed most.

Few steps down the street and he came upon the kindergarten he was once in. Smiling endearingly, he strolled past the gate, and his beam became bigger upon locating the spot he was looking for.

The kindergarten was no longer in use. But this was where he’d met that small, quiet guy. He noticed that the small boy then was always looking at him from afar. Probably because of the language barrier, he never had any friends. So when Aoba spoke to him that day – and he glad he did because that was how he’d noticed how endearing the foreigner could be – it was technically the first time he had interacted with someone but his teachers.

But what actually nailed an impression in Aoba’s mind wasn’t merely because of his striking existence - it was what he had given him before he disappeared from his life.

Suddenly feeling nostalgic, Aoba opened his bag and pulled out a piece of crumpled paper, which he opened up and an undefined surge of warmth pooled within him upon seeing the scribble on it. It was very well-drawn, making it hard to believe that this piece of art was produced by a five-year-old.

He had never talked a lot with that small boy before. But that one drawing he had given Aoba told him enough that he was just another lonely boy, probably as lonely as he was.

If he was still alive somewhere, he’d probably be a grown up man by now. Aoba didn’t even want to imagine how more good looking he could be, that mere thought often sped up his heartbeats in ways he couldn’t define.

He was so immersed with his very limited memories of the boy that when someone tapped him on the shoulder, he jolted and jumped so furiously he almost dropped the paper.

He turned around, prepared to punch the person if he happened to be a robber.

But.

“I didn’t expect to find you so soon.”

What appeared right before his very eyes was what had been occupying his mind all these years, as if his imagination had taken its own form, and was standing right in front of him.

Sure, he was curious about the small boy. But across time, he realized that it was more than that. To what extent, he never knew.

Perhaps today was the day he was going to find out exactly what it was.

“Y-you are…” he stuttered, unwilling to believe his own eyes.

The tall, blonde haired man in front of him was way better looking than any imagination he had ever had. Giving out a small smirk, the foreigner moved towards him, closing their distance.

“You’ve forgotten about me.”

He was talking in fluent Japanese, but the small boy Aoba knew never knew Japanese so naturally, it shocked him. This didn’t match with what he had in his mind.

As he stood and gaped at the ‘stranger’, the foreigner took a piece of paper out from his suit pocket, opening up to reveal a handwriting Aoba was more than familiar with.

_Aoba_.

“Y-you are…” Aoba repeated, his mind still too shocked to form coherent words.

“My name is Noiz,” the man with lime-green eyes said. “And I’m here to fulfill my promise.”

Taking the piece of paper out of Aoba’s hand, Noiz slipped his hand into his pocket once again, and this time, he pulled a ring out of it.

“I’ve come to become friends with you again,” Noiz said as he slipped the ring into Aoba’s finger, lifting his other hand up to show an identical ring on his finger. “Please accept this friendship ring, Aoba.”

The ring shone glamorously on his finger; it was an image far more precious than the one Noiz had drawn on the paper few years back.

Probably it was a way of expressing gratitude between friends from where Noiz came from. Probably Noiz had finally grasped his language just so he could communicate with Aoba.

But no matter what it was, Aoba knew that this was just the beginning of everything.

The ring wasn’t merely a friendship promise, it was something more than that.

To what extent, it was for them to find out.

 


	5. Deception [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Meeting at a masquerade ball AU
> 
> "We'll continue working together under the masks. Like how we did today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you [polyvinylmonster](http://polyvinylmonster.tumblr.com/) for drawing such an awesome piece of art for this drabble <33
> 
> She's one of my favorite artists and this is such honor -overwhelmed-

 

Seragaki Aoba was perfectly confident with his own ability to adapt to a new environment. The hardships he had encountered since he was young had implanted the versatility in him. Thus, when he was transferred to a humongous corporation in Germany, he managed to suit himself with the different culture and environment in less than a month, in turn helping him to be able to perform magnificently even with little to no help from the people around him.

 

But he had to admit that the first few weeks were tough. There were a lot of things that he was unsure about and the last thing he needed was to find people creating difficulties for him which would then affect his work performance. He learned that despite being able to grasp almost all the operational rules within a week, he should never try to stand out too much. His position as a new staff had restricted him from performing up to his own standard. Well, at least for the first few months.

He had practically memorized everyone in the new German company. He knew people who were in the same level as him; and people who were at a higher level than him – people who he would never get to approach personally. He needed to know so that he could figure out the right ways to deal with these people. That was why he put extra effort in digging out more information about these people so as not to accidentally step on their tails. 

At the most basic level, he knew that the company was owned by a wealthy family, well-known in the country itself and also a family many other corporations would never want to cross their wrong paths with. He also knew that even so, the company was mainly ran by the eldest son of the family – _Noiz_ , the name of the son – and that no one had ever seen him personally before, the picture of him being the only source of information the company staff could obtain.

This was one thing Aoba couldn’t understand. He couldn’t figure out why this  _Noiz_  person had to be so secretive over his identity. Wasn’t transparency the best method to run a successful company? How would he be able to gain trust from his comrades if he was not willing to reveal who he really was in the first place? Or was trust simply a faraway fairy tale in this country? 

That was one cultural difference Aoba learned from his first few weeks in the company. Everyone didn’t seem to even care about who owned them and all they did were simply following strict instructions, without even doubting if they were doing the right thing.

It wasn’t something Aoba could completely conform with, but he had no choice, already being put in this situation, thus he realized that he should be doing things his own way, with the safest route he could venture into. 

He didn’t leave his own country just to follow orders blindly. He wanted to achieve something better. If that meant he would need to take some risks to achieve what he wanted, then so be it.

Sure, adapting to a new environment might be doable. But there was  _one_  thing that Aoba still found difficulties adapting to –  _company events_.

He wasn’t particularly good with socialization. He was fine with one-to-one, a more personal discourse but when it came to huge prominent events, he found the culture shock within him overpowering his courage. 

And he was here now, in a masquerade party, surrounded by people he may or may not know in fancy  _masks_. 

The moment he stepped into the ballroom, he had to swallow hard to contain his nervousness. There was no way he would allow his hard earned composure to be destroyed just in one night. So he gave a few people a bitter smile as he made his way through the crowd, grabbed a cocktail from a tray and retreated to a corner, praying hard that no one would notice how out of place he felt. 

He simply couldn’t help it. He came from a simple, quiet place and he had yet to get used to the extravagance he was constantly exposed to ever since he set foot in this country. 

Gulping down his cocktail, he stared around the place. People around him were conversing merrily with each other, so abnormally natural to the extent that Aoba had to question if they had even figured out who each other was to be able to conduct such a smooth conversation. 

Sighing quietly, he was about to put his glass on a nearby table when he noticed that someone was leaning against the wall beside him.

Instinctively, he quickly forced out a smile at the stranger.

“Hi,” he said, praying that he sounded natural enough. “Having fun?”

The stranger remained quiet, intensifying the awkwardness between them instantly. Still with that idiotic smile on his face, Aoba attempted to figure out who was under the mask as he stared at the person.

He had blonde colored hair, a white with green lining masquerade mask covering his features but for a mere second, Aoba managed to catch sight of a pair of lime green eyes before the stranger started talking.

“You don’t seem like you’re having fun.”

Caught off guard, Aoba quickly shook his hand.

“Ah, don’t worry about me. I’m having a lot of fun here.”

“Is that so?”

The stranger sounded unfamiliar, but he had a husky voice, almost eccentric – a voice Aoba had never heard before.

Was this a new person? Because he was pretty sure that he had everyone in the company memorized.

Before he could decide how to continue the conversation, the stranger placed his glass beside Aoba’s, pointing his chin at the balcony while the other looked at him curiously.

“Do you mind? I need to talk to you.”

***

The balcony was less noisy than the room. Once they obtained solidarity, the stranger leaned against the edge, urging Aoba to do the same. 

“I see you’ve been pretty intelligent in terms of meddling with my company’s system,” the stranger said in a nonchalant manner. But that simple sentence sent an instant chill down Aoba’s spine as he found his voice trapped in his own throat. 

“W-what do you mean?” he asked, trying to suppress the shiver in his voice.

“Don’t play dumb. I know what you did with the coding in our information system.”

Aoba thought that he was careful enough to escape the surveillance of information bugs and spiders but apparently, he had did something careless somewhere for someone to actually find out about it.

“I’m just trying to protect the company data,” he clarified, completely honest. 

It was true, though. Over the one month he was settling down in his new company, he’d discovered this coding gap in their company system that had caused the leak of information. To where this information was leaked to, he had no idea at all. But his instinct told him that he had to do something about it. He wanted to report it to the upper level but there was a fear of people assuming that he was trying to show off. What if this hole was created for a purpose? What if his presumably decision to report it would cause more troubles for him? 

So he experimented with the system. He tried hacking into the system and created a bug in it to monitor the activities of this information flow. And to his surprise, he realized that the company’s confidential data was  _indeed_  not only flowed out of the company, but was heavily manipulated and edited before they were transferred back into the company.

He did the first thing that came into this mind – blocked the hole.

But whenever he did that, the hole seemed to be able to magically find its way back the next day, impressing Aoba but scaring him at the same time, realizing that he was dealing with someone  _intelligent_ , probably someone a lot more intelligent than he was.

“IP address 22.613.113.04,” the stranger continued. “Let me teach you something, Mr.Seragaki. Next time, if you intend to do some hacking in any system, make sure you modify your IP address first. Or simply don’t use any company resource to conduct such illegal act.”

That was it. His career was done. By now, he should find himself packing and flying back to Japan.

Giving out a sigh, Aoba turned around to face the stranger, who was giving him a side way glance.

“Fine, I admit. I was the one who modified the information flow and blocked that hole. I thought I was doing the right thing, okay?” Folding his arms, he continued staring at the stranger before he continued. “But before you report me, can you just tell me who you are? I want to at least know who the intelligent person I’ve been dealing with all this while was.”

The stranger gave out a small smirk and Aoba saw him mouthing the word ‘intelligent’ before he straightened himself up and faced Aoba. 

“I say the same for you,” the blond said. “Although I’ve already know who are you but let’s do this – we’ll take off our masks together, okay?”

Aoba quirked a curious eyebrow at him, but agreed anyway.

“Fine. On the count of three? One, two…”

Before he could finish counting, the man in front of him had already taken off his mask, leaving Aoba gaping in surprise.

“Y-you…”

“What are you doing? Are you trying to play cheat?”

“N-no, of course no—“

The next second, the man’s hands were on his face, taking his blue masquerade mask off and revealing his light brown eyes, which were now staring unblinkingly at the pair of lime green orbs in front of him.

“You look even better in real life,” the owner of the company muttered.

Without knowing what to say, Aoba swallowed down this throat, stepping a step back before he exclaimed with a shivering tone.

“Y-you’re Noiz.”

“Yes, I am,” Noiz said, still with the smirk on his face.

“And you were the one who had been leaking  _your own company_ ’s data out.”

“Indeed.”

It was hard to believe.

“Why would you do that?”

“You want to know?” Noiz asked, stepping closer to Aoba and grasping on the other’s wrist before he could escape.

Aoba wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know what was happening anymore. He thought he was doing the right thing, but it turned out that he was wrong, and now with this turn of events, he became even more confused.

“I can tell you, under one condition,” Noiz continued, now pulling Aoba closer and gripping on his chin. “You need to keep quiet about this and work on it with me.”

“That’s two conditions,” Aoba retorted, realizing how stupid it sounded.

Noiz gave out another small smirk.

“Indeed,” Staring straight into Aoba’s eyes, he continued. “I need people like you.  _Intelligent_ people, like the way you put it. And we’ll work under the masks, like how we did tonight. Besides…” Noiz trailed off and paused for a moment. “I’m not sure if I’m fine with others discovering how amazing you are under the mask, physical or mental-wise.”

There wasn’t any way for Aoba to reject him. He didn’t feel like rejecting him anyway.

“So, Aoba,” Noiz continued after releasing Aoba from his grasp. “Shall we dance to our first partnership?”

When Aoba took Noiz’s hand, the pang of warmth that he felt in his chest told him that he was making the right decision. Giving out a natural smile, he allowed Noiz to lead the steps, feeling the night a bit better than it was. 

It seemed like Aoba would spend a long time more in Germany. He wasn’t sure what situation he was lured into, or what was Noiz’s purpose in doing something so risky and illegal like that. There were a lot of things that he had yet to understand but for some reason, something in his head told him that this was the step – this was the step he needed to take to achieve something brilliant.

And that was why he was here in the first place. 


	6. Voice [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : One’s blind and falls in love with the other’s voice.
> 
> The only way that could make him feel alive is _voices_ , but not just any voices.

He once thought that he didn't need sensations. He didn't need those unnecessary distractions and all he needed was to understand his world –  _the world he was in_  – with his own way and that would be more than enough for him.

His world was filled with constant darkness and he couldn't understand how one could indulge in the feeling of being happy, being sad, being angry, being able to feel anything at all.

He didn't know how to define beautiful.

 

Thanks to the eternal darkness, he could only rely on his touch, his smell, and his hearing to feel alive. He sometimes wondered if this was how it’d feel like if one was to face death – the feeling of emptiness, the endless pit of hopelessness and the feeling of being unwanted. What was the purpose of life if one couldn't make sense of life? He once thought when he was still young and scared; but now, he realized that things only made sense if  _he_  made sense of them.

And by that, it didn't matter if he couldn't see; it didn't matter if he couldn't make out what was so beautiful about things around him.

He didn't need them after all.

All he needed was himself, and the tantalizing emotions he’d feel within him when he realized that  _hearing_  new things could be gratifying as well.

 

***

 

He was used to discrimination, his best friends all along had always been the sounds he heard from the radio or from the television. He once had a person to help him around the place but slowly, he managed to get a grip of himself and eventually, he learned how to survive by himself.

He was blind, not dumb. He can’t see, didn't mean that he couldn't make use of the other sensations that were so well gifted to him to the extent that he could practically remember every word, every touch, and every sound he got in touch with.

He was so sensitive to these sensations to the extent that he could practically form a picture in his head about how these ‘sensations’ would look like if they were to take a form.

He thought that’d be the best way. Because then he wouldn't feel the need to accept any other way to see things other than the way he visualized it.

He wanted to live in his own perfect,  _beautiful_  world.

That was why when he first heard the sound of this person on the radio, he stopped whatever he was doing, blindly grabbing the nearest cushion he could reach and hugging it tightly.

The voice was… sensational. It wasn't the usual voice he’d heard elsewhere. It wasn't too high pitched, wasn't too low either. But yet, it was extremely gentle yet energetic, calm yet filled with a sense of determination that one could easily miss if they missed out a second of it.

It was a voice Noiz felt he could relate to.

” _Good evening, everyone! This is Seragaki Aoba, your DJ for this evening! I hope you had your dinner and if you’re having one now, I hope it’s something you enjoy because you deserve it!_ ”

The script was not much different from the ones he usually heard from the other announcers on the radio. But yet, there was  _something else_  in this person’s voice that had greatly attracted him. He couldn't feel the pretentious hint from his voice and he couldn't quite make out what the announcer genuinely felt as well.

He moved closer to the sound, Seragaki Aoba was talking about dogs now and he had no interest at all but his voice –  _that voice_  – was hiding something else that he couldn't make out, a difference from what he usually heard from the other announcers.

“Seragaki Aoba,” he mouthed his name.

He never cared about other’s names as well. It was just a label, just like how he was being labeled as ‘blind and incompetent’. But Seragaki Aoba rang well on his tongue, and for the very first time in his life, he wanted to know how this person looked like in reality.

 

***

 

Ever since he discovered Seragaki Aoba, it became a habit for him to lock his 7:00 p.m. slot just so he could obtain more information about this newfound announcer. Sometimes Seragaki Aoba would mumble unconsciously, completely gone out of topic as he got too immersed in his own thoughts; sometimes he’d talk about something so enthusiastically that Noiz could literally hear his voice drop in disappointment when his time slot came to an end.

Seragaki Aoba was interesting, he thought. Every bytes of his sound shouted ‘genuine’ and Noiz could make that out, at the very least.

He was very interested with this announcer.

 

***

 

It was a week later that he finally noticed how  _obsessed_  he was with Seragaki Aoba. He was shaken. It never happened to him before and he never wanted that to happen. Obsession, or rather, connection was a dangerous thing. It meant that he was  _attracted_ , and that meant that he would lose his direction if he wasn't careful.

He wanted to shake it off, so he stopped listening to the program.

He needed distraction.

He found himself in front of a shelf of CDs in a CD shop. He didn’t even know what he was looking for, all that was in his head was ‘ _distraction_ ’ so he absent-mindedly picked up the nearest headphone he could reach and plugged it onto his ears.

It was electrical techno. It wasn't too bad.

“Hey, you like Goatbed too.”

This voice wasn't too bad, either.

No, wait.

He raised a curious eyebrow. This voice – it was familiar, which was impossible considering how disconnected he was to everything else.

“This is my favorite album too. Man, I hope they hold a concert here, or even a simple meet-up would be great.”

He didn't know what Goatbed was. He didn't care about what Goatbed was.

Because all that he could hear now was  _this voice_  – this awfully familiar  _voice_.

“I’m Aoba, by the way,” And he literally felt his heart skip a beat. “And you are?”

He was searching for a distraction. But  _this_  distraction was way too terrifying for him to stomach.

Then, he felt slight motion in front of him and he instantly knew that this person was the same as everyone else. Giving out a sigh, he took the headphones off, put it back to where it belonged and turned his back towards Seragaki Aoba. He was used to disappointed, and he hated himself for putting himself into this situation again.

“Hey!”

He heard hurried footsteps from behind him and he fastened his own pace. But he was caught up fairly quickly and Aoba was tapping on his shoulder when he came to a stop.

“I’m sorry!”

He didn't even need to apologize.

“I’m just amazed that I find someone who shares the same favorite band as me. Sorry I got overexcited.”

He really didn't need to apologize.

“I don’t like that band,” Noiz said emotionlessly. He could hear a quiet hitch of breath from the man beside him.

“O-oh… I’m sorry.”

He’s apologizing way too much. Noiz just wanted to get out of this place. He didn't want anything to do with this person.

“I’m Aoba.”

“I know,” Noiz said without thinking.

“O-oh, I said it already.”

Aoba obviously sounded awkward. It didn't need a blind person like Noiz to figure that out.

“But you haven’t tell me your name,” Aoba persisted. Now Noiz could sense a hint of excitement in his voice. Why was he so interested with his name anyway?

“Noiz.”

“I see. Nice to meet you, Noiz.”

He couldn't understand Aoba. Just like how he couldn't understand him when he first heard him on the radio.

And he couldn't understand why Aoba was tailing him either.

“What do you want?” he asked, impatience in his voice as he stopped and turned around, causing Aoba to almost crash into him.

“I’m curious,” Aoba said. “You seem like you have something you want to say.”

Was this the advantage of being able to see? Noiz thought. But he gave out a sigh regardless, turning his back towards Aoba again as he walked down the road.

“Hey!” Aoba called out, now walking side-by-side with Noiz.

“What?”

“It’s true then,” Aoba said. “I've heard of you.”

That caught Noiz’s attention. And he thought  _he_  was the only one who had ever heard of Aoba.

“You don’t really come out often but you have quite a reputation around,” Aoba continued.

And Noiz knew perfectly well why. He must be the only blind person around to gain such unnecessary attention.

“I’m amazed.”

Noiz turned to face Aoba, a pointless gesture. But he could hear Aoba’s voice heightened the next time he spoke and he knew that he had done the right thing.

“I cannot imagine how it feels like to be not able to see anything but yet, you’re so strong. You survived so well by yourself.”

“I didn't have a choice,” Noiz said before he could stop himself. “Being strong is my only option.”

Aoba begged to differ. But no matter what opinion he had then, it seemed that he had decided to swallow it down for now.

Their walk back home ended in silence. Noiz couldn't figure out how he’d landed himself in this situation but Aoba’s company wasn't as bad as he imagined it to be. So he thought… perhaps it was fine for now as a change to his mundane daily routine.

 

It was surreal how different it felt to hear a voice so close to your ears in real life compared to when you hear it over the radio. When Aoba knocked on his door a few days after their first acquaintance, he was genuinely surprised. But Aoba obviously wouldn't take no for an answer as he made his own way into his room, immediately making himself at home as he opened up the two pizza boxes he had brought along with him.

Noiz couldn't understand what was with this behavior. Aoba didn't even know him for an hour and now he was barging his way into his house like it was the most natural thing to do.

At first, Aoba did most of the talking while Noiz just sat and fiddled with his braille. But Aoba’s voice was far more distracting than he thought and before he knew it, his entire attention was drawn to his voice. All that Aoba said about how tough it was to juggle between college and work, and how tough it was to meet expectations were things that Noiz never thought he’d possess an interest towards. But now, Aoba’s voice wasn't the only thing that was attracting him – everything of Aoba had become part of his interest now.

He’d never interacted with someone in such a close range before. No one seemed to feel the need to talk to him on such a personal level. 

He didn't know how to rectify that either. There was no way he could ask Aoba. So he kept quiet the entire time, allowing Aoba to continue talking as he kept his thoughts to himself.

The situation continued for a few months. Sometimes Aoba would stop by every few days, sometimes once a week. And whenever he didn't come for more than two days, the first thing he said to Noiz was always words of apology. And until today, Noiz still couldn't figure out why Aoba was so persistent with that.

Almost one year after they knew each other, Noiz still couldn't bring himself to respond more than a simple nod and a few short comments that he’d only throw back to Aoba when Aoba asked.

Aoba’s voice became part of Noiz’s life. He didn't need any other source of sound anymore.

But when Aoba stopped talking one day even though they were sharing the same space, Noiz was curious. He was always curious towards Aoba but never in such an intense way. And even though he couldn't make out Aoba’s expression at that moment, there was no way he could miss the sober air around him.

“You okay?” he voiced out, voice small and cautious.

“Oh, erm ,yeah, I’m fine,” Aoba said carelessly. He must be wearing a bitter smile right now.

“You want to talk?” Noiz continued asking.

“Sorry, am I causing any inconvenience by staying here?” Noiz could hear the unnaturalness in his voice and he didn't like any of it.

“No,” he said firmly. Aoba was obviously taken back by his sudden coldness and he fell silent again, before Noiz continued. “And stop apologizing.”

“Huh?”

Noiz was sure that Aoba was looking at him. He could literally feel his gaze on him.

“O-oh, I’m sorr—“

“You’re doing it again.”

“Oh, I…” Aoba swallowed down his throat. “I didn't realize I’m apologizing so much.”

“Why?”

Aoba didn't need any further clarification for Noiz’s question to understand what he was trying to ask.

“Y-you, well…” Aoba’s voice trailed off at the end of his word.

“Is it pity?” Noiz blurted out before he could stop himself. “Is it because I’m blind?”

“That’s not it!” Aoba was almost shouting and Noiz was sure that he almost jumped up. “It’s—“

“Then what is it?” Noiz interrupted. He realized how cold he may sound now but Aoba didn't seem like he’d give him an honest answer if Noiz didn't push him anyway.

“I just…” Aoba’s voice turned softer, and he paused for a few seconds before he slowly continued. “I've heard how intelligent you are. You created simple applications just from reading right? You've created quite a few other things as well. But I feel that it’s unfair how you can’t see your own creations.”

“’Few other things’?” It was true that Noiz had gained interest in binary codes and complicated coding systems but that was only because it was an amazing way for him to make sense of the darkness he was in. It was one of the only ways for him to make out the shape of this world. Even though he might be wrong, but it was still better than having nothing in his mind but a black hole.

“Yeah, like this,” Aoba said and Noiz heard him moving away for a while before he felt him pushing something into his hand. “You made this right?”

It was a rabbit-shaped origami he had once attempted out of curiosity. He’d learned the shape of this animal from a book and he’d gained interest for a while. But soon, he realized that even though he’d managed to make something out of it, he couldn't tell if he was doing it right or wrong either. In the end of the day, he simply chucked it aside, trying to ignore how pointless and stupid he was to even attempt to  _see_  when he knew that it’d change nothing anyway.

“It’s really cute.”

He felt his fingers trembled slightly at Aoba’s words.

“It looks like a rabbit I saw in a zoo,” Aoba continued. Noiz could feel his hand being incredibly close to his, and the small rustle sound he heard told him that Aoba was probably stroking his so-called creation.

“Really?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah.”

He didn't deem the truth as being important. He thought he could create his own truth. But when he sensed this feeble hint of hope that was telling him that he might be getting the connection right, there was no way he could ignore the surge of new hope he felt within him.

“And you can’t see it,” Aoba’s next statement changed the atmosphere in the room. There was another short pause before Aoba started speaking again. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing again?” Noiz asked, trying to feel the origami in his hand, his fingertips constantly touching on Aoba’s hand.

“It’s unfair. I’m sorry the world is treating you so unfairly. I’m sorry—“

“It’s not your fault.”

“If you can’t live like how you deserve, then it’s the world’s fault,” Aoba said immediately, his voice firm and strong.

It took a while for Noiz to finally let the reality sink it. Did Aoba just… acknowledge his existence?

“But that was what drawn you to me,” he said carefully. “I don’t know how you know me but I've known you since you appeared on the radio.”

“Huh? You mean the program I hosted?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn't know about that,” Aoba was definitely gaping at him.

“Because I didn't tell you,” Noiz said, now with obvious casualness in his tone. “You’re… different.”

When Aoba fell silent again, Noiz thought he had scared him away. But when Aoba spoke again, he swore he heard a hint of hoarseness in his tone.

“Th-that’s it. That’s what you've been trying to say since we first met, right?”

He didn't even realize it until Aoba pointed it out to him now.

He thought the word ‘different’ only applied to him. But now that Aoba put it this way, he soon realized that he had been unconsciously using the same word on Aoba as well. He didn't know if it was supposed to be an insult or… something else entirely.

“How did you know?”

“Perhaps you can call it a hunch,” Aoba said gleefully.

Noiz had never wanted to see a person’s face so much.

A hunch, though. Was it yet another advantage for a person who could actually see?

“Seragaki Aoba.”

The sudden call of his name surprised Aoba, and he responded so quickly that made it feel like as if he was caught red-handed while he was doing something inappropriate.

“Y-Yes?!”

“How do you look like?” Noiz asked. He was looking at him, Aoba could make that out even when Noiz’s eyes were hidden behind the shades that he’d never seen him taking off.

“How do you think I look like?” Aoba returned the question to him instead. He wasn't trying to challenge him; rather, he was genuinely interested in Noiz’s view.

But Noiz didn't respond. And the longer Aoba stared at him, the more he felt as if Noiz was struggling to find the right word to describe it to him.

As he was about to help him out, Noiz moved closer, leaning towards him and closing their distance to the extent that their noses were only inches away from each other while Noiz continued staring at him.

Aoba almost held his breath.

Then, the next thing that happened literally made him lose his breath.

It was quick, only perhaps three seconds but he could clearly feel it on his lips before Noiz moved slightly further away. The loud beating in Aoba’s ears told him that he wasn't hallucinating as he gaped at Noiz, who was now wearing a smirk on his face.

“I think what I thought about you is right after all,” Noiz said. Then, he held out a hand, slowly tracing the outline of Aoba’s face, stopping on his cheekbones where he gave them an extra push before he slid his fingers down to his chin, where he lifted it slightly up and all Aoba could see was his own reflection in Noiz’s shades.

“You’re thin,” Noiz muttered, his every word froze Aoba’s nerves as he continued staring, afraid to even move an inch. “And…” Noiz’s hand moved from his face to his hair, where he gently brushed his fingers through it until he reached the tips. “You have nice long hair.”

That was when Aoba realized that there was one thing that Noiz would never get to know.

“I have blue hair,” Aoba interrupted while Noiz gave out a confused expression. “My eyes are light brown in color.”

“I can’t imagine that.”

His words hurt him, but he swallowed again and continued regardless.

“It’s almost the same color as your hair. You have strawberry blond hair, but it’s softer than the color of my eyes.”

Noiz seemed like he was trying to visualize it but a thin scowl that appeared on his face the next second told Aoba that it was a mission too impossible for him. And the fact continued hurting him.

“How about my eyes?” Noiz asked.

This time, Aoba was the one who leaned closer as he placed both of his hands against each side of Noiz’s face. Before Noiz could say anything, he started.

“Can I?”

Noiz could’ve said no, he had never exposed his vision to anyone else before. And he wasn't sure if it was a right thing to do anyway; he wasn't sure if he was more  _different_ than he thought he was.

But then…

“Yeah.”

If it was Aoba…

At first, Aoba remained quiet. And for a moment, Noiz thought that his speculation was right after all, that he was  _indeed_  way too different from anyone else, that it was a wrong decision he had made that would make him regret for the rest of his life.

“It’s beautiful.”

That was a word that only appeared in his own self-indulgent world.

“Your eyes… they are lime green in color, they are bright and,” Aoba gave out a smile. “strong, just like I expected.”

He couldn't imagine how ‘lime green’ looked like. But he could imagine how ‘strong’ felt like, and that relieved him greatly.

“Aoba.”

This time, when he called his name, it was no longer a label. Aoba was Aoba; it was not just  _another person_. And Aoba was different, perhaps a different  _different_  from how he used to understand different was.

But that was what Aoba would teach him, and with the hug Aoba gave him after that, he was almost sure that Aoba wouldn't reject the idea either.

 

 


	7. Crossed Fate [Koujaku x Noiz]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Yokai AU
> 
> This is a very self-indulgent AU which I headcanon-ed on twitter and eventually turning it into a ficlet of itself. I’ve always adored yokai setting so when I happened to see two very gorgeous art of Koujaku and Noiz in this setting, it kind of triggered that writing instinct in me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. _Yokai_ \- can be used to encompass virtually all monsters and supernatural beings.  
>  2\. _Tengu “heavenly dog”_ \- Mythical bird-man goblins from the mountains of Japan.  
>  3\. _Kitsune_ \- Fox spirit.

_` Kitsune Noiz`_

 

***

 

Something was not quite right.

Koujaku scowled as he stared at his rack, where a few baskets of fruits were supposed to be. He remembered counting how many apples were left in the morning, and now that he was fixing his gaze at the empty basket, he instantly knew that someone had dared to intrude his house when he wasn’t around.

 

Being a thousand-year  _yokai_  had its benefits, one of them being the respect the said _yokai_  earned throughout the years of survival and living, hence earning the  _fear_  at the same time and causing them to be able to stay out of unnecessary troubles.

But whoever that had decided to intrude his kitchen obviously didn’t possess such fear towards him; or rather, he might not even know him to even dare to cross the line.

Clicking his tongue, Koujaku put the empty basket away, rubbing his temple with his thumb as he tried to push the matter out of his mind.

It was just one incident. And he was sure that the intruder wouldn’t have the guts to try a second time unless risking his life.

But he was wrong.

The next day when he returned, he found himself looking into another empty basket. And the same situation proceeded. He’d lost more than ten apples by now. It wasn’t the fact that he’d lost his food that was irritating him, but the fact that  _someone_  out there had given him a silent challenge that had pricked his nerve.

After the fifth similar incident, he decided to stay put, not even attempting to hide himself from sight and sitting on a bench just outside the kitchen with a pipe in his mouth, waiting for time to pass so that he could catch the intruder red-handed.

And soon enough, he held his breath when he saw a shadow outside the window, kept his pipe away when the same shadow moved swiftly into his house and before he could even blink, he saw it – a figure standing near to his rack, seemingly unknown to Koujaku’s existence right behind him.

Koujaku saw the figure reached out to grab on one of his apples. He could’ve lurched at him now but he paused, frowning as he gazed the thief from head to toe. He had a pair of furry strawberry blond ears, blond hair and bushy tail that complemented the color of both his ears and his hair. He had never seen this person around and Koujaku wondered if this person even knew he’d just intruded an old  _yokai_ ’s house.

“Hey,” Koujaku finally called out. The thief halted all of his actions, suddenly realized that he wasn’t alone. “I have to praise you for having the guts to intrude my house. Do you have any idea who I am?”

The thief never moved, his actions seemed to have frozen and it was starting to annoy Koujaku even more.

“I’m talking to you,” Koujaku said with a sterner voice. “If you apologize now, I can still forgive you.”

Then, he heard a small laugh from the figure and he stared as the blond-haired man turned around to give him a dismissive look. It did nothing but twitch Koujaku’s nerve even further.

“I know who you are,” the thief said, his voice cold and quiet. “And your point is?”

Koujaku wanted to end him there and then. Scowling deeper, he stormed towards the thief and glared fervently into the other’s lime green eyes.

“You’re stealing food from  _my_  house,” he growled through gritted teeth. “I think I deserve an apology.”

“Do they have your name on it?”

By now, it wasn’t hard for Koujaku to notice that this intruder was a  _Kitsune_  (fox), one of the more cunning  _yokai_  species around the area. That explained a lot about his attitude.

“This is  _my_  house, fox,” Koujaku was almost shouting into his face.

“And your point is,  _tengu_?”

He obviously knew who Koujaku was. This was perhaps the first time Koujaku had faced such a stubborn, immature  _yokai_.

“It means you can’t just take food from people’s house like that. It’s their property.”

He didn’t even know why he was trying to reason with a fox.

The fox only gave out a small hum before he slipped out of Koujaku’s sight and made its way towards the door.

“Hey!” Koujaku called out again but before he knew it, the fox was gone.

The ambush was a failure. Not only that he didn’t manage to teach the thief a lesson, he earned himself a headache instead. He didn’t expect himself – a thousand-year _tengu_  – to be affected by a bratty fox and that mere fact crushed his pride.

And he didn’t expect that very same fox to have the guts to return the next day as well.

This time, instead of finding an empty basket, Koujaku came back to the fox sitting on his bench with an apple in his hand as he gave Koujaku a disinterested look before he went back to brushing his tail.

Koujaku could literally feel the blood rising to his head. His huge black wings were stretched to its limit but before he could even teach the fox a lesson, the fox sneaked out again, and Koujaku was left alone with an empty house, as if the fox was never there in the first place.

And the same situation continued, again and again.

Until one day Koujaku decided to just launch himself at the fox the moment he saw him and grasped him on the arm before he could escape. This time, though, the fox finally gave him an expression that he could decipher as anger as he pinned him down on the floor and restricted all his movements.

“It’s about time you spill the beans, brat,” Koujaku said with tease in his voice. Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry at the fox, rather, he was amazed and curious. But the fox gave him a sly grin, instantly boiling his blood as he pinned him stronger on the floor.

“You know I can kill you right now,” Koujaku threatened with a low, dangerous voice.

The fox merely stared and grinned at Koujaku.

And for some reason, Koujaku wasn't able to even grab him harder than he already did, despite the disrespect a mere fox just gave him.

 

***

 

But that seemed to be a turning point to, well, everything.

Koujaku still came back to the fox in his house, munching on his food and fiddling around with his stuff like it was the most natural thing to do. If he was lucky, he’d get a quick glare from the fox; if he wasn't, then the fox would simply mind his own business, without any sign of fear towards the  _tengu_.

It was hard to get him to speak up. Every time he’d sit on the same bench, munching on the same food and without a care towards Koujaku.

It was one day when Koujaku decided to cook something for himself that had changed the situation.

As he took the well-cooked meat out and served it on the table, the fox throttled behind him the entire time, joining him on the table uninvited as he stared at the food.

“I’m not giving you any, it’s my food,” Koujaku said, and the fox returned his comment with a stern glare of his own before he went back to stare at the food.

Koujaku didn't even know what had gotten into him before he found himself giving out a loud sigh, taking  _two_ plates out from his cupboard and placed one of them in front of the fox.

“I can share with you, under one condition,” Koujaku said as the fox gave him a curious look. “Tell me your name.”

The fox scowled. For a few quiet moments, they merely stared at each other, until the fox clicked his tongue and looked away, first to the window, then back to the food, before he returned his gaze to Koujaku’s eyes.

“Noiz.”

And Noiz didn't wait for Koujaku to respond before he stabbed the fork into the piece of meat, helping himself as always.

 

***

 

So Noiz started spending more time in Koujaku’s house after that. He was still quiet as usual, but he obviously responded when Koujaku came near to him, albeit a small one. But when Koujaku gave him food, he accepted it without another word.

“You know who I am,” Koujaku broke the silence one day when they had finished savoring another one of Koujaku’s homemade meal. “Why you choose to steal from me? You know it could kill you if I decided then to slaughter a thief.”

Noiz fell silent, seemingly considering Koujaku’s words before he said quietly.

“I can’t steal from the villagers, they hit me.” Then, he pointed to the door, where the door was slightly opened and a rabbit could be seen sleeping near it. “They are the only ones who always bring me food. But there’s a limit to how much they could help me.”

“And you risk your life for food?” Koujaku interrupted.

“You never chase me away,” Noiz commented. “You could have hidden your food elsewhere or set a trap for me but you didn't do any of those.”

Koujaku admitted. But he was still yet to understand why he didn't do what he was supposed to do either. He was an influential  _yokai_ , capturing or even terminating a young fox shouldn't be a hard task.

Instead of clarifying Noiz’s doubts, Koujaku smiled and waved a hand at him.

“Come here.”

Noiz obeyed, and the moment he got closer to Koujaku, Koujaku pulled him into an embrace and laid his head on his lap.

“Wh-what are you—“ Noiz started but was immediately interrupted by Koujaku.

“I've always wanted to do this,” Koujaku smiled gleefully as he patted Noiz on the head, scratching the back of his ears (which evoked a soft purr out of Noiz) before he went to brush on his tail. “I can’t help it, it’s an old habit.”

Noiz didn't get to ask what exactly that old habit was before he found himself leaning into Koujaku’s comfortable touch.

At that point in time, he wondered if this was how it felt to have someone to genuinely care about you.

And when Koujaku stretched his huge black wings and wrapped Noiz in it, he wondered if this was how it would feel if he wasn't an abandoned, unwanted  _kitsune_.

 


	8. Crossed Path [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt** : Imagine your OTP used to exchange anonymous letters as children. Now person A goes to a university/college, and has to miss a lecture for some reason. They borrow the person B sitting next to them’s notes and find the handwriting extremely familiar…

Most people don’t have a complete memory of their past. They only remember fractions of what was important to them, and often, those pieces of their past would tend to stay with them for a very long time, decades even.

 

Aoba couldn't remember a lot about his childhood, he couldn't even remember much about his teenage years. The only vivid memory he had was perhaps one where he rebelled against his family, constantly spending time out of the house as he indulged in activities that weren't doing any good to him. He only remembered that because he could never forget how much he had made his grandmother cried and worried for him. But that was about it. It wasn't a memory he would chose to remember but he couldn't help it, there was no way he could wipe it off so easily.

But that wasn't the only thing he had come to remember either. He was fortunate to have a fond memory of his own – one which would always hit him hard and straight in the heart whenever his eyes darted to the carefully sealed box in his drawer. When he was younger, during the days when he was so disconnected to the world, the days when rebelling his family and fighting on the streets seemed like a cool thing to do, he started making friends with people whose names he never knew. It didn't seem like a problem at that time. He remembered randomly poking a guy on an online game – in which the other returned his provokes with a cold, disinterested reaction – and eventually, typing turned into writing and he once laughed at himself for stepping backwards – back to the writing era – when the entire world around them was moving into technology and intangible beliefs.

 _I’ll only talk to you if you agree to it_.

The guy who he’d gained interest in had proposed this old-fashioned method and he figured that there was no harm obliging to what he wanted anyway. At that time, he couldn't understand why he had agreed to his ‘online friend’’s suggestion; but then, when he finally came home, finally apologized, and finally returned his life back to normal, he realized that that was probably because he was lonely. And the guy he’d known on the net – ‘Ruff Rabbit’ – was the only person who didn't return his conversation for something else but company.

And then he wondered – perhaps the man in that screen was lonely too. When he opened the sealed box and took one of the letters out to read the content – ‘ _My family wants me to study somewhere else to gain exposure. It’s troublesome_ ’ – he thought that perhaps personal touch like this was exactly what made him feel belonged. Sure, the era had changed, things had moved forward. But intangible elements would never replace how valuable tangible elements were, just like the thick pileup letters Aoba treasured so much.

Sure, he’d gotten matured across time, no longer the naïve brat who once thought that a punch can solve everything. He’d earned grades good enough to gain him a space in a good university. But there was one thing he could never change.

 

“Why didn't you wake me up?!” Aoba screamed as he quickly rushed to grab the toast off the table and clumsily slung his bag over his shoulder.

His grandmother was glaring at him from the kitchen and he knew instantly that he’d caused more troubles again as he smiled bitterly and apologized before he ran out of the house.

He was already one hour late for his class and to make things worse, it was the first class of his semester and he’d ruined his own impression on the very first day.

Silently cursing himself, he ran down the street, occasionally stopping to catch his breath and found the entire class staring at him when he stormed into the lecture hall.

“I-I’m sorry!” he apologized frantically to his lecturer, a tall, black-haired man who only gave him a momentary stare before he broke into a gentle smile, excusing him and informing him to proceed to a seat.

Filling extremely embarrassed, Aoba kept his head low as he blindly made his way to the nearest empty seat he could find, without even having the courage to look at his own classmates. It was a miscalculation. It’d need some time for him to recover from this.

“S-sorry,” he said quietly, finally lifting his head up to look at his desk mate just to find himself staring into a face he’d never seen before. The man beside him looked young; he was blond-haired and his eyes were fascinatingly alluring to the extent that Aoba had to look away and give out a small cough before he got too caught up with them. “I missed the class, do you mind if I borrow your notes?”

He saw the man gave him a smile, his eyes surprisingly a contrast to his expression as he pushed his book towards Aoba.

“Thank you.”

He didn't catch him name yet, he’d have to do it properly later.

… was what was in Aoba’s mind before he opened the book, and found his jaw drop.

The man was still staring at him, he could feel his searing gaze beside him. But the longer he stared at the notes, the harder he was to bring himself to look at him. After what felt like forever, he slowly turned, just to see the man  _smirking_  at him with one hand supporting his head, seemingly enjoying Aoba’s reaction.

“Took you quite some time.”

He had a low voice, almost husky. And in that moment of time, Aoba noticed that his voice was almost like what he thought it to be; but what he never expected was –

— how ‘Ruff Rabbit’ turned out to be such a good-looking foreigner; and how crazy it was to have an almost 10-year-old online friend right beside him, right here, right now.

Intangible elements weren't as precious as tangible elements – it was something Aoba had come to realize when he started keeping all the letters his online friend sent him. And now that he could literally  _feel_  that said physical connection right beside him, he almost believed that miracle was real – and that it was happening to him at this very moment.

 


	9. Take The Stage [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Music AU

Noiz stared at the piece of crumpled ticket in his hand with a deep scowl on his face. One of his classmates  had stuffed the ticket into his hand before he left earlier that day, telling him things like he shouldn’t miss this concert for reasons Noiz could no longer remember. Sighing, he looked at the ticket again, then at his watch. It was almost dinner time, the concert would be starting in another two hours. He didn’t have other plans for the night.

Slipping the ticket into his jeans pocket, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, made his way out of the classroom and considered if the decision he just made in his mind was _really_ the right decision.

He’d heard about this band before; it had created a huge hype every time this band came to town for a performance. But he had been too oblivious towards pop music, let alone the reason why this particular band was so prominent in town to care much about the excitement. He knew nothing about the band members, nothing about their music, but as he stood outside of the stadium where the performance would be held shortly, he thought that perhaps it was about time for him to make out exactly _why_ people were so obsessed with a particular band like this one.

He turned, looked at his watch again, noted the remaining time he had left to enter the stadium and started making his way back to the main street when he bumped into a person around a corner.

“O-ouch, sorry!” the person immediately responded. Noiz grabbed onto the wall just in time to prevent his fall, but the person who’d crashed into him wasn’t so lucky. He fell, sitting on the floor and rubbing his head where he’d just knocked into Noiz.

“Are you okay?” Noiz asked out of pure curiosity. He wanted to extend a helping hand but the man was already standing up, still massaging his head.

“I’m okay,” he said, lifting his head to look Noiz properly in the eye. Now that Noiz had a better view of his features, he noticed that he had long, blue hair that stretched to his waist; his eyes were light brown, and he wore a smile that spelt genuine innocence. “You?”

“Fine,” Noiz replied simply. He was about to say something but the man looked at his watch, gasped, and ran down the street without another word.

The man piqued Noiz’s interest. He was sure that he was more than just another normal guy on the street. He had a type of charisma that Noiz found it hard to explain. Noiz sighed. There was no way he could verify it with the man now that he was out of eyeshot.

But the slender built of the man, along with his striking blue hair remained in Noiz’s head, for reasons unknown.

–

As expected, the place was crowded, hot and everything Noiz disliked. He frowned at the stuffiness, regretting every decision he made as he was cramped in between crowds. It wasn’t even possible to leave now without spending long hours trying to squeeze out of the crowd, which was not worth the time anyway. Grunting, Noiz endured, his scowl grew deeper with every passing second as he tolerated the heat and sweat of people around him.

He wanted the concert to end already, before it even started.

Then, the lights went out, the crowd suddenly went quiet and, as fast as how the atmosphere changed, the spotlights came on again, accompanied by loud bass and crowd cheers shortly after. People were jumping around him, shouting in his ears and for a second, Noiz felt as if he’d puke from the overwhelming environment. He was sure that this whole thing was starting to disinterest him.

Until he saw the vocalist making his appearance on the stage.

“I’m sorry for the wait!”

His voice was loud, booming around the space, the aftershock vibrating in Noiz’s ears. But he was no longer grunting, his attention completely distracted by the blue-haired man standing on the stage.

“He can’t be the vocal, right?” he thought.

But then the man adjusted the microphone on the stand, coughed, and shot a bright smile at the crowd.

He was wearing tight leather attire, the outline of his body painfully obvious under the blinding spotlights. He was giving out an aura so strong that it made it hard for Noiz to believe that this was the same, _polite_ person who had bumped into him earlier that day.

He kept his eyes on the vocalist, scrutinizing on every one of his movements – the way he swayed his hair, the way he stretched his legs, positioning himself in front of the microphone stand; and the way his stare turned sharp, _striking gold_ even, his grin turned sly and finally, when he spoke again, Noiz literally felt chills all over him.

It was like he turned into a whole new person, just like that.

“Make some noise for Sly Blue!”

He thought this stranger he’d met on the street was sweet, kind, naïve, polite; but now, every one of that impression was wiped clean off his mind.

This person was _captivating_ , in the most _devilish_ way possible.

And Noiz finally understood why this band – specifically, this vocalist – captured so many attention in town.

 


	10. Purposeful Prank [Noiz x Aoba]

His heart beat loudly in his ears, his legs felt numb from all the running, his back slicked with sweat. He was sure that a few strands of hair had escaped from his high ponytail now and he wished he had the time to attend to it.

Later, he told himself. He just _needed_ to reach the company soon.

He turned a sharp corner, almost fell, and finally, gave out a relieved sigh when he saw the tall corporate building in sight.

He’d left his job a few months back and he’d been struggling to locate himself with a new one but this job opportunity had come knocking on his door a few days ago. He was dumbstruck when he saw the invitation mail asking him to attend the interview and he needed to call up the company to confirm that they sent the invitation to the right person despite the clearly written “ _Mr. Seragaki_ ” on the greeting opening of the mail.

He clutched his chest, trying to contain his breathing as he walked towards the building, straightening his dark-blue tie in the process.

He wished he had time to drop by the toilet for a final preparation later on.

He was stepping into the lobby of the corporate building when he saw the elevator door closing. Panic, he sprinted towards it.

“H-hey, wait up!”

He briefly caught a glimpse of the person in the elevator – it was a blond-haired man, and for a second, Aoba thought he caught sight of a disinterested stare before he had to ran two times faster, cursing internally at how the man had conveniently ignored his desperate plea before he slipped his hand in between closing elevator doors, successfully halting the doors from closing.

“Thank you very much,” he glared at the man as he stepped into the elevator, voice filled with thick sarcasm.

As expected, the man ignored him. Acting like nothing happened, he looked at the closing door, then at the buttons.

“Tenth floor plea—“

Aoba hadn’t even finished his sentence when the man clicked on the fifth, then the eighth floor, then the ninth, and lastly the tenth before he slipped one of his hands into his coat pocket, still ignoring Aoba.

“What did you do that for?” Aoba asked, annoyance now extremely obvious in his voice.

He swore he heard a low hum from the man, which did nothing but further intensified his frustration.

Now he was _sure_ that he’d be late for his interview and it was all this man’s fault.

He wanted to abandon the thought of continue staying in this elevator and just ran out of it when it stopped on the fifth floor to use the stairs but the man quickly closed the door before he could get his way out, earning another glare from Aoba.

“Seriously…”

Aoba sighed loudly. Leaning against the elevator wall, he frowned at the man, who was still wearing an unconcerned expression on his face.

The elevator stopped on the eighth floor, but the man closed the door even before it could open properly, causing Aoba to give out another loud sigh.

When the door opened on the ninth floor again, the man shot a sideway stare at Aoba, just to realize that Aoba had been staring at him all along.

“You started it,” Aoba said, as if trying to instill a sense of guilt in the man.

But instead, the man gave out a light smirk, looked away and when it finally reached the tenth floor, he walked out first, followed shortly by Aoba who had now lost every ounce of motivation to attend the interview.

Maybe he should retreat now, he thought. He’d landed himself the worst impression ever for being late. It’d be a waste of each other’s time anyway.

Trying to convince himself with his newfound decision, he walked towards the secretary, who was seated outside of a room that was obviously the room of the company’s chairperson.

“I’m sorry, I’m supposed to be here for an interview but—“ Aoba started, but he was quickly cut off by the secretary, who gave him a bright smile and stood up.

“Seragaki Aoba, am I right? We’ve been expecting you. Please hold on for a moment.”

“No, wait, I—“

Then, she picked up the phone.

“He’s here. Okay.”

Aoba wanted to tell her that he wanted to drop the interview but the secretary was fast to respond as she walked towards Aoba, visibly guiding him to the chairperson’s room.

“He’s ready to meet you.”

It was too late, Aoba thought. Gulping down his throat, he braced himself, knocked on the door, and felt his heart stopped beating when he heard a soft “Come in” from the inside.

Maybe he still stood a chance after all, he thought when he walked into the humongous room. Maybe they didn’t mind him being late. He knew he was trying to be positive but when he saw exactly who he was facing with, he dropped his jaw, the nervousness he initially felt disappeared before he could even blink, replaced with fury instead.

“ _You_ ,” he breathed.

The blond-haired man stood up from his seat, wearing the same smirk Aoba had seen on his face when they were both stuck in the elevator.

“Thought you would give up,” he said. His voice was lower than Aoba had expected it to be, but it was definitely clear.

“Was that your purpose?” Aoba asked instead, completely forgetting that this was the person who was supposed to interview him.

“Not really,” the man said in a nonchalant manner. “Just thought of testing you out.”

_That sure was fun_ , Aoba thought, a frown added to his face.

“So, shall we begin the interview?” The man walked towards Aoba, giving him a sharp, almost intimidating stare before he pointed his chin at a couch in one corner of the room.

Now Aoba was _sure_ that he should’ve pulled himself out of this interview before he managed to land himself in this mess.

 


	11. Caught! [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU where Noiz is a killer who’s supposed to terminate his prey, Aoba.

He had only one and one task - all he ever needed to do was to find his prey, slaughter him, and he’d be done for the day. That should be his only concern. It was his _job_ , after all. Assassination was nothing new to him, he’d conducted frequent killings when money came knocking on his door. It wasn’t like he was desperate for money but rather, he was addicted to the _thrill_ that came with the job - regardless of how he felt when he sneaked into a place for a quick kill, or the actual killing process itself. There was a percentage of failure which might cause his own death and _that_ , enthralled him.

He wasn’t afraid of falling into the opposite end and becoming a prey instead either. Lacking the ability to feel had given him an advantage his opponent never knew. He wouldn’t need to be afraid of having to deal with the _pain_ he’d experience if he took a shot in his body; he wouldn’t need to face _fear_ itself knowing that the pain that came with slashes or gunshots would not become a hindrance to him. It’d become a convenience and even though the disability was a curse of its own, he found himself appreciating it, even feeling grateful for it.

As he reloaded his gun with just enough bullets for a quick, simple kill, he peeked out from behind the tree for a glimpse of the mansion he was about to sneak in. Giving himself a final tidy-up, he kept the gun deep within his black suit, straightened his tie, and walked out of his hiding place, straight up to the front gate.

“Oh, you’re the new person?” One of the bodyguards who stood on the main entrance asked, glancing at Noiz from head to toe.

Noiz flashed the most natural smile he could afford before he nodded. Shoving an I.D. under his nose, the bodyguard scrutinized it, nodding to his counterpart who was standing at the other side of the gate before they nodded at each other.

“Head straight to third floor. Turn right, second room along the corridor. Mr.Toue is waiting for you there.”

Noiz gave another nod. Then, keeping his I.D. away, he waited while the door was opened for him before he set foot into the luxurious atmosphere of the mansion.

He took his Coil out, summoned a hologram screen and examined the floor plan.

Seragaki Aoba’s room was located on the third floor as well. He smirked. Well, better keep the prey close, right? As he walked his way up the stairs, he pondered, wondering how Seragaki Aoba lived his life with eyes constantly fixed on him. He was literally held captive in this place; he probably enjoyed the most luxurious life here anyway, considering Toue wouldn’t want his living experiment to go haywire before he could grasp an actual result.

It also seemed like there had been several attempts of assassination before him. He was even surprised to notice that security was so loose even after those attempts. He immediately increased his alertness - something was not quite right with this place. He could be lured into a trap. But he had a job to do, and this new realization did nothing but intensifying his stirring nerves.

The corridor of the third floor was quiet and dark. It had become way to suspicious at this point but he had no intention to back off now, not when everything he was speculating in his head was no more than his own guesses. He was confident enough to face assaults if they were to launch themselves at him anyway; he was a trained assassin after all. Regardless, he remained alert, frequently looking around just to make sure that the coast was clear. The floor plan was still up; his could hear his own heartbeats in his ears. He passed by Toue’s room - one where he needed to report in after submitting the application to be Seragaki Aoba’s personal bodyguard - and stopped in front of a room beside it. He’d passed the test gracefully. But it’d take too long before he could finally do his job and he didn’t have time for it. Besides, he’d exposed too much of himself by then. He never wanted to leave any footsteps behind; it wasn’t his working style in the first place.

So a quick kill would be perfect - the passing of his test should only act as his pass to enter the mansion.

He stood in front of the wooden door, frowning at the lack of presence around and beneath it. Then, raising a hand, he knocked twice on the door with his knuckles and waited.

Is he asleep? he thought. He knocked again, his scowl deepened with the lack of response. A few minutes of waiting later, he gave up, turning the doorknob open with a hand and another reaching into his suit to grab the gun. The door opened with one swift movement. He held his gun up high, preparing himself for the possible assault but he found himself enveloped in complete darkness and silence instead, as dark and as quiet as the corridor.

This whole situation was starting to confuse him. The mansion was suspicious. Perhaps Toue or even Seragaki Aoba had already known of his plan tonight. That was why he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he _really_ landed himself in a trap. But it was too late to call this mission off anyway. It was a do-or-die mission for him ever since he accepted the job; his employer wouldn’t allow a retreat, not now.

Turning around, he inched back to the door, closing it with one quiet movement as he held his gun high again, still on extreme alert mode.

Now that he’d lost his only hint of where his prey could be, he could only depend on his instinct for his next action. He went down to the second floor, still looking around as if the hint would appear just like that if he tried hard enough.

The second floor was wider than the third, he was quick to notice. He took a different turn, landing himself in a bigger corridor. Not a single soul was around, as if the house was abandoned or there was simply _no one_ around. But it wasn’t possible, either. If Toue was in the house, there was no reason for his bodyguards to leave him out of their vicinity like this. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became.

Or perhaps, the only bodyguards in this house were the two at the front door and himself, which was a ridiculous thought of its own.

He clicked his tongue. Quickly checking on the time, he let out a sigh under his breath. He had been wasting too much time and Toue was probably even wondering why he was late to turn up. Perhaps he should abort the mission for now and seek for other alternatives. At this rate, he’d just end up sneaking around the house like a clueless housefly.

But a thin ray of light halted his decision, turning it in a hundred eighty degree way as he walked towards the source, like a firefly attracted to the light.

The corridor was no longer quiet. The nearer he approached the light source, the louder he heard the sound. It was the sound of water hitting hard surface with moderate motion, instantly telling him that it was the bathroom he was heading to. But that wasn’t the only thing he heard.

Beneath the midst of loud shower, he could vaguely hear the voice of a man, not too loud, but audible enough for him to know that it was definitely not a sound someone would produce when they were bathing.

The door was closed and obviously locked, but it only took a few second for a skilled assassin like Noiz to unlock it as he peeked through the door gap, trying to find the owner of the voice.

He found his target in no time.

There he was - Seragaki Aoba, leaning against the wall, damped from head to toe, shower pouring mercilessly on him as he closed his eyes, heads tilted up as small moans leaked from his lips.

The first thing that Noiz noticed from his prey was his long, blue-colored hair, the exact color as the countless photos he was given to hunt. It was the only color that stood out in the midst of mist that was stemmed from the heat in the room. But then, Aoba opened his eyes - and Noiz wanted so much to take back what he just thought.

He’d seen the color of his eyes, undoubtedly. But it was a whole new story altogether when he was to see the real thing, right in front of him. It was a light-brown color, teary and hazy and definitely unfocused. He wasn’t looking anywhere, let alone noticing that Noiz was literally _staring_ at him, but one hand movement told Noiz exactly what he was doing as the corner of his lips curved into a smirk.

His prey was undeniably tasteful, but above all, this mere visual shouted nothing but seduction and if Noiz hadn’t managed to contain the slight pitiful hint that’d just blossomed out of nowhere, he was sure he’d retreat and let Aoba be.

But no, he was a professional assassin. There was no way he’d leave when his _prey_ was right in front of him and being all ready to take a shot any time now. It’d hurt his pride.

Pushing the door wide, just enough for him to slip his body through, he hesitated for mere seconds before he slammed the door shut on purpose. As expected, Aoba turned around, surprise written all over his face upon hearing the noise. He was about to say something but Noiz was faster. Before he could open his mouth, Noiz had strode swiftly towards him, pointing his gun directly at his chest and standing right in front of him with hand tilting his chin.

“Found you,” he whispered.

Seeing the pair of light brown-colored eyes up close trapped his breath beneath his chest. Aoba was visibly shocked, his gaze alert and sharp. And for a long moment, they only exchanged stare, seemingly waiting for the other person to make the first move.

Noiz decided he should take hold of the wheel now. Hand still grasping hard on Aoba’s chin, he slipped the gun along Aoba’s torso, tracing across his chest and ultimately aiming directly at his heart.

“I’m sure you know why I’m here. You seem to have a lot of experiences with this.”

He could see Aoba swallowing down his throat; but he’d never expected the next thing Aoba said.

“If you want to kill me, just do it already.”

His voice was clear; there was no sense of timidness at all and he, once again, amused Noiz.

“Where are your bodyguards?” Noiz asked instead, pressing the gun deeper against Aoba’s skin.

“I don’t have an– wait, there should be one coming over today.”

And that one person is aiming his gun at you, Noiz wanted so much to tell him - to burst his bubbles. But he decided to force the words down before he broke into a grin.

“Too bad he won’t be able to fulfill his duty even before he could start.”

Aoba was frowning at him then; but soon, his scowl softened, his expression replaced with a intimidated one when Noiz tore his gaze away from his eyes and shifted his vision downwards instead.

“Ah, I see.”

“D-Don’t–”

“Do you not have anyone to satisfy your need when you’re here?” Noiz teased. “Toue is a cruel man.”

“I’m a man,” Aoba retorted, the scowl returning to his face. “I have needs.”

If he was to be faced with a timid prey, his job would be easier then. This world was all about survival of the fittest. Weaklings would only be thrown aside and let alone to die. So he never felt any guilt for killing off all the preys he’d murdered. But _this_ particular prey…

He narrowed his eyes. _This_ particular prey had a gun pointing directly at his heart; he was trembling a little, Noiz could make out that much. But instead of begging for his life like how all his previous preys had, he was gritting his teeth at Noiz, suppressing his fear as he spoke. He was terrified; he wouldn’t know when Noiz would pull the trigger, ending his life then and there. He wouldn’t know what kind of death Noiz had in store for him.

But yet, there he was, giving Noiz a gaze so stern as if he was trying to pierce Noiz with his stare alone. His body was no betrayal, but so as his guts and Noiz had to applaud him for that.

This was an interesting prey, he concluded. It’d be a waste to kill him off just like that.

“How about…” he purposefully paused, leaning forward to whisper into Aoba’s ear. “As a reward for your courage, I’ll fulfill your _needs_ as a final wish?”

“Wh-what?”

Aoba probably already saw what was coming, but Noiz didn’t intend to allow him any time to respond either. He wasn’t asking for his permission but rather, he was merely informing him and before he knew it, he had grabbed onto both of Aoba’s wrists, pinning them tight above his head as he grinned at the satisfying response Aoba was giving him now.

“Just kill me already,” Aoba growled.

“I don’t think you have a say in this, Seragaki Aoba,” Noiz replied impassively. “I’m the one with a gun. Stop protesting if you want to feel pleasure until the very end.”

If Aoba could, he’d definitely kick Noiz in the crotch now but Noiz seemed to have predicted his action as he pushed his knee in between Aoba’s legs, restricting his movement.

The shower was still running when he felt Noiz’s lips on his, hot and wet. He’d never felt anyone’s kiss before but he never intended to tell Noiz that this was his first kiss in his life either. It felt weird, and he couldn’t understand _why_ it felt weird. It was only pressing fleshes together but yet, he could already feel the electric shocks running down his spine, aiming directly at his half-hard dick as he suppressed a moan. It was when Noiz sucked on his bottom lick that he let his moan out, allowing entrance for Noiz’s tongue as the other slipped his tongue into his mouth in the speed of lightning.

He could feel himself tremble under Noiz’s kiss. He could feel Noiz pressing his tongue against his. He could feel himself getting hard again.

When Noiz pulled his tongue out, he could see Noiz’s suggestive smirk even from the thick layer of mist around, just before he felt the cold metal material that was once on his chest sliding even down south now.

“Getting hard just from a kiss alone?” Noiz slid the gun along Aoba’s shaft, eyes fixed on his, forcing him to look at nowhere but himself. “You’re really inexperienced, huh?”

Aoba wanted so much to die right now than being continuously humiliated by his killer but Noiz had completely taking him under control. He couldn’t move an inch and the gun that was now tracing his length did nothing but further arousing him. He was scared, so very terrified. He wouldn’t know _when_ Noiz would shoot him; he wouldn’t know _how_ he would die. He was more than ready for a painful death. But Noiz promised him pleasure and he wanted so very much to trust this man in front of him - a man who he’d encountered in such an intimate way despite being his killer.

He could literally feel how he hardened with every stroke the gun gave him. Noiz seemed to have noticed it as well. He was totally doing it on purpose. Aoba could only close his eyes, trying hard to sustain his burning desire and intense fear at the same time. His heart was beating so loud beneath his chest he thought it’d burst out of his rib cage any moment now.

This predator was playing with his prey, just like how a cat would play with a mice before it killed it. Aoba felt like a mice now, unable to do anything but waiting for his destiny - death - to fall upon him.

Then, the cold sensation disappeared, replaced by a warm one instead, which resulted in an unintentional gasp from Aoba. Noiz had kept his gun away, placing his hand on Aoba’s dick instead as he pumped on the length, attempting to bring it to full hardness.

“Don’t be so afraid,” he stared penetratingly at Aoba, his terrifying glare almost made Aoba come then and there. “See? No more gun.”

He was _definitely_ toying with Aoba. It enraged Aoba but it took one hard squeeze on the head to tilt his head back, hitting on the cold wall as a moan spilled out of his lips.

“I wonder if you can come just like that?” Noiz was asking him a question he didn’t intend to answer. But Noiz didn’t seem like he needed an answer anyway because in the next second, he’d answered the question for him. “I’m _sure_ you can come just like that.”

And _just like that_ , he increased the speed of his pumping, occasionally slipping his nail into the slit and Aoba cried, _almost_ coming when Noiz pulled back, delaying him and slowing his strokes.

“What are you..” Aoba whined, looking at Noiz with dazed, glassy gaze, an expression that made him look as if he was about to cry.

“If you want something, you need to ask, Seragaki Aoba,” Noiz said with a smirk.

Aoba didn’t need him to elaborate further for him to know what _exactly_ did he mean by that. He shook his head and looked away.

“Just… kill me already,” he repeated. He’d rather die than being humiliated.

He didn’t need to see Noiz in the face to know that his grin had gotten wider.

When Noiz released his grip on his wrists, he turned around, surprised. But Noiz remained quiet, having no intention to explain his action before he lifted one of Aoba’s legs up and slung it over his shoulder.

“Wh-what–”

His words were interrupted by a sudden intense kiss and he could do nothing but clung onto him instead, humiliation filled the whole of his insides when he realized that this position he was in was exposing his most private body parts under a stranger’s eyes - this was worse than death.

He didn’t know what Noiz was about to do; but he didn’t seem like he was going to kill him either, at least not yet. But he heard a clicking sound and he widened his eyes, just in time to see Noiz pulling his gun out again.

“Give me your hand,” he said after a messy separation of kiss.

Aoba obeyed without question - he didn’t have an option anyway.

And when Noiz pushed the gun into his hand, he stared in shock.

“I’m giving you an option,” Noiz said, replying his doubt. “You can kill me now and leave yourself hanging just like that,” he ended with a teasing flick at Aoba’s dick. “Or you can let me fuck you until you’re completely spent.”

He shouldn’t give him an option and Aoba couldn’t understand why. His previous killers had never taken another look at him before they aimed their guns at him. But _this_ predator just gracefully handed him _his_ gun, without fearing that Aoba could pull the trigger at him as well, just like how he did to him earlier.

“Why…?” He wasn’t answering Noiz’s question but he needed to _know_.

Noiz let out a small smirk. “I want to see how you’d react, Seragaki Aoba. You, who aren’t afraid of death. I want to know if you’re not afraid of killing too.”

Was he talking to himself? Aoba wondered. He was sure that this predator in front of him had killed a long list of people and he was just another person on the list. But why were his eyes filled with so much hesitance when he looked at Aoba now? And why, did he allow his prey to hold his weapon, something that was equivalent to his life?

“If you don’t answer soon,” Noiz urged, inching his fingers towards Aoba’s hole. “I’ll take you then.”

Aoba tightened his grasp on the gun. He could kill this person now; it only took one shot and he’d be able to escape his death again. But along with the firm grip on the weapon, he could also sense the weak trembles around it.

He was ready to die; but he was and never would, be ready to _kill_.

“Do whatever you want,” he replied, his clutch on the gun weakened. “Besides, you promised.”

It sounded ridiculous even in his own head. He was _sure_ that Noiz was laughing before he screamed when Noiz pushed one finger deep into him with one thrust.

He was never ready to be a murderer; all his life, he was only waiting for someone to come and finish him off. He’d never thought of killing someone before, unlike this very person in front of him, who literally lived off taking others’ life.

He couldn’t understand Noiz; perhaps he was only after his body, but if that was so, then how did he explain the intense gaze and, his heart skipped a beat when he saw it in Noiz’s eyes, _desire_ Noiz possessed towards him? Did Noiz fuck every one of his prey before he killed them too? Did Noiz give them an option to kill him just like how he did to Aoba too?

How _many_ times Noiz had risked his own life just to see how far he could go?

– Just to see how long more he could survive before he was finally defeated?

He had a lot of questions in his head; questions that he _needed_ answers to. But Noiz’s addition of a second digit alongside the first wiped his mind blank. He’d _never_ felt pain so intense like this.

The gun was pressed hard against Noiz’s back. He was already wet from head to toe, having stood under the shower ever since he first made his appearance in the room. Aoba quickly removed his finger from the trigger, fearing that he might accidentally pulled on it.

He didn’t want to kill this person, despite how this person had every intention to kill him.

It was stupid, and perhaps Noiz thought so too, because if not, he wouldn’t then trusted Aoba with a weapon that could possibly end his life here.

“Hold on tight,” Noiz breathed into his ear.

Aoba did as he was told. And soon, whatever thoughts he had were forgotten.

It hurt, it hurt _really badly_. His insides was _burning_ , his clutch on the gun was strong, he wanted something to hold; something that could help him contain the intense pain in him.

“Do you feel it?” Noiz asked. He licked the tears from the corner of his eyes and Aoba could only breathe weakly. “Does it hurt?”

Aoba nodded, unwilling to form coherent words.

Surprisingly, Noiz let out a smile before he pulled himself completely out just to thrust back in again, hitting Aoba in the hilt with one push.

For a long while, the bathroom was filled by nothing but the sound of shower, the sound of skin slapping against skin and Aoba’s loud moan. It hurt so much that Aoba thought he’d pass out just like that. He couldn’t remember at which thrust when he felt the pain subsided, replaced with a throbbing tension around his lower half and he found himself literally hugging onto Noiz, moving by himself and plunging himself back onto Noiz at the same time.

“I can’t feel any of those,” Noiz said.

“Wh-wha–”

“Pain,” Noiz disturbed. “I can’t feel pain. So if you’re to kill me,” he reached behind, pulling Aoba’s hand with the gun in sight and forcing Aoba to point it at his chest. “I won’t feel it too. It’d be just like that,” he thrust harder, hitting Aoba directly on the prostate. “and it’s done.”

He was confused, his emotions were confused. Why was Noiz telling him this now? What did Noiz expect him to do?

The gun was still pointing at Noiz’s chest, his finger was near to the trigger. It was just like Noiz said - ‘bam!’, one shot, just like that, and he’d be able to kill him in no time.

He couldn’t understand Noiz; and he couldn’t quite explain to himself why he was suddenly feeling fear all over him. He imagined himself _really_ shooting Noiz and he almost dropped the gun, the thought too overwhelming for him to sustain.

He was experiencing fear for a whole different reason now - not the fear of being murdered; but the fear of _murdering_ Noiz.

“If you can feel it,” Noiz’s breath was becoming heavier with every passing second, with every new thrust. “Then feel it with all your heart now. You never know when someone will take away this privilege from you.”

Noiz must be attracted to him for a different reason - not the reason to kill, like how Toue was attracted to him, or how the whole world was after his head.

But unlike everyone else, he could sense something else from within Noiz that he couldn’t from others. He wanted to ask, but continuous deep and hard thrusting had eventually pushed him towards his limit. He couldn’t think of anything else but the urge to come, to fall apart in Noiz’s arms, and even when he was crumbling himself, he held strong to the gun, attempting to control himself with the final ounce of guts he had left - just to stop himself from accidentally firing Noiz right in the chest.

It took just a few more thrusts for him to come all over himself, dirtying both his and Noiz’s body.

Right before he lost his consciousness, he heard a loud gunshot.

And he couldn’t make out if the sound was made from the gun he was holding…

 

… Or from somewhere else.

 


	12. Wait [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz is an immortal who meets Aoba, a mortal.

His first acquaintance with Seragaki Aoba was pure accident. He’d spent his time, as usual, doing nothing but contemplating about ways to pass on and finally reincarnate into something more normal - a human, perhaps - when _this man_ happened to sit right in front of him in this very cafe he was sitting in, despite the many empty seats around him.

“Hello! My name is Seragaki Aoba, I’m a writer from Heibon Magazine and I wonder if–”

“Not interested.”

He cut him off before he could even finish with his words. Leaving Aoba gaping at him, words hanging in midair, he looked away, giving loud signs for this stranger to leave him alone when he found the man leaning towards him, their distance so impossibly close it was starting to make him feel awkward.

“You seem like you have a lot of stories to tell,” Aoba said, hot breath hitting Noiz on the face while he stared, surprised yet annoyed, at the writer. “I need stories. My deadline is tomorrow and I have yet to have any ideas on what to write!”

Is this supposed to be my problem? Noiz thought. Pulling their distance apart, he leaned back against his chair, a face of displease.

“I’m not the right person for you,” he said, completely blunt. “Look elsewhere.”

He had _nothing_ to tell this person. In fact, he’d rather this person - who was obviously one who’d written tons of stories - to tell him what was so interesting with this world instead. To him, it was nothing more than another dull, uninteresting, even dirty place to exist. The fact that he couldn’t die - being an immortal - not helping the slightest.

“But I can see it in your eyes,” Seragaki Aoba was still going on about it. “It has the depth I’m looking for.”

He had no time to be hanging out with a stranger now, despite how bored he was. Standing up, he threw a few tips on the table before he turned his back towards Aoba and headed towards the door.

“W-wait! Hold on!” 

Aoba chased after him. He followed him. He ended up tailing him for the entire day. It was no use. He was just wasting his time. Noiz had absolutely _nothing_ to tell him.

It was almost midnight when he stopped in front of his own house. One hand on the fence, he turned to look at Aoba, who was standing a distance away from him, still giving him that determined, stern stare.

“You’re one stubborn one, aren’t you?” Noiz said, dissatisfaction thick in his tone. “It’s no use. You’re just wasting your time.”

“From the entire day I’ve been following you, I noticed two things,” Aoba interrupted with a completely new topic, totally irrelevant to what Noiz had just said. “One, you don’t have a life.”

Noiz let out a smirk. “Indeed, that’s why I told you it’s a waste of–”

“Two,” Aoba purposely heightened his voice just to stop Noiz from speaking. “You don’t know about life.”

Noiz’s eyes brightened. Taking his hand off the fence, he turned around, coming face-to-face with Aoba at long last. He was making him laugh. He, a mere human, had just _told_ him that _he_ had no life - _him_ , who had been living in this world for centuries. The corner of his lips lifted higher as he took one step towards Aoba, who stood rooted to the spot, persistence written all over his face.

“What makes you say that?” Noiz asked, a tone so feverish and very unlike the one he’d used on Aoba for the rest of the day. 

“You don’t look around. You’re not interested in anything at all.”

That was true, Noiz had to praise him for that. Who wouldn’t if they had been living for centuries? He had seen everything - from the best to the worst. Everything was the same; they were just routines. And it bored him out.

“That’s because there’s nothing interesting around,” he retorted, which was responded with a scowl added in between Aoba’s eyebrows. 

“You’re wrong,” he said, voice still firmed. “There was a little girl trying to sell you a balloon earlier. If you’d looked closely, you’d notice that she’d slipped a note into the balloon she intended to give you. And,” Aoba held a hand up, stopping Noiz in case he had anything to say, which turned out wasn’t the case. “There was a man who had been following you for the entire day now. He was holding a camera for the whole time. I suspect he’s a star hunter.”

Now _this_ was interesting. Not the little things that Seragaki Aoba had noticed that he didn’t; but the mere existence of _Seragaki Aoba_ was starting to interest him now.

Giving out another smirk that looked oddly like a mock, he sent a direct stare at Aoba. “I guess I could give you credit for those. But I’m sorry, you’re going to be disappointed with me. I don’t have any stories to tell. You should know about it since _you_ were the one who’d said that I don’t have a life.”

“Nope,” Aoba disagreed, and to Noiz’s astonishment, he witnessed the unpleasant features of Aoba gradually changed into a delightful one when he broke into a bright grin. “ _This_ is my story - the story of a man who’ve never known about life.”

When Noiz nodded to Aoba’s unbreakable persistence, little did he know that he was also nodding to a lifetime compliance; one that’d turned his life into one that he’d never known despite his century-long survival.

Eventually, Aoba found out about him being an immortal, immediately causing him to clap a hand to his mouth as he gave out a loud “No wonder!”. Noiz didn’t know what happened but all he knew was that ever since then, Aoba had become his shadow. He followed him everywhere like his personal bodyguard. He said he was using him as an inspiration for his weekly feature stories and Noiz wanted so much to trust him but it wasn’t possible. He’d never seen Aoba making notes; he’d never sensed any distance between them. And he’d never known when did he started to appreciate living more; all thanks to Aoba.

A few years later and Aoba had become editor; his stories were big hits, the readership of Heibon Magazine hit the top of the local leadership board ever since he started archiving a story about a man who’d learned to rediscover life.

He told Noiz that meeting him had allowed _himself_ to rediscover life as well. Before, he was all immersed with work; but he’d never noticed the little things around him that had painted a beautiful picture that could be so meaningful to him. He told Noiz that if Noiz was an immortal then he should be his lucky angel, because _Noiz_ was the one who’d given him not only inspirations to his career, but also a shift in his life that he’d never experienced before. Noiz had told him that he was the same, that he’d never understand how significant seemingly insignificant little things in his life were if not because of Aoba.

At that moment in time, they really wanted to believe that they would complete each other, even though both of them knew that Aoba would have to leave first. They thought that even though their bond was cursed, nothing else mattered if they were to live through their limited days as meaningful as possible.

Aoba was all ready to go before Noiz; Noiz was all ready to face the day.

The only thing was - they never expected the day to come _so soon_. And they weren’t ready. At all.

The accident was, well, an accident. It wasn’t their fault in the first place. When Noiz pulled the brake, it was already too late. The car had gone out of control, crashing into a nearby tree and crushing the most of their front bonnet along with their windscreen.

He couldn’t remember what happened then; all that he knew was when he woke up, he suffered nothing more than a broken arm but Aoba… Aoba was in the emergency ward. He had more than a broken arm. He suffered broken ribs, broken limbs, but above all, the huge shock that’d hit him directly in the head sent him into a coma that not even the doctors could tell when he’d wake up from his sleep.

Noiz didn’t know how to feel. He wanted so much to switch their positions, to replace himself with Aoba instead. He wouldn’t mind the pain; he wouldn’t even mind death, he’d lived too long after all. But the reality was unkind, as it always was towards Noiz.

He sat by Aoba’s bedside every single day, without fail, just like how Aoba would always appear on his front door every single day when they were both healthy and unscarred. Without fail. He didn’t feel the need to go back to a world where Aoba wasn’t in. _Aoba_ was the one who’d painted his dark world with colors; there wasn’t a meaning to the world if it wasn’t with Aoba. Their story became a big hit in the town. The magazine Aoba worked for assigned two writers to talk to Noiz, asking him about his experience, his relationship with Aoba, and everything that did nothing but reminding Noiz of how cruel life was to him. His “ _life is only meaningful if you spend it with the person you love”_ quote became a trend in town. _He_ became the word of the town - as the person who’d loyally visit Aoba, sit by his bedside, and wait for him to wake up without fail for every single day. He was the first to walk into the ward and the last to leave everyday. Sometimes, he’d talk to Aoba, reminiscing the stories they’d shared together - sometimes even making it into the pages of the town’s magazine - and frequently, he’d tell Aoba about what had happened to him on that day, just so Aoba could stay updated with his life. But mostly, he told Aoba to stay strong, that he’d exchange his life with him if he could; he told Aoba not to give up, not to break his promise. And he told Aoba that he’d be waiting for him no matter how long it’d take.

Soon, days became weeks, and eventually years. It’d been forty whole years since Aoba fell into a coma. The doctors had advised Noiz, again and again, that perhaps plucking out the life support would be a better relief for Aoba. But, again and again, Noiz refused, telling the doctors that he’d wait until Aoba stopped breathing, that he’d never give up. There was nothing else anyone could do, not even Noiz, except for waiting.

Perhaps Aoba had finally heard his words; or perhaps Noiz’s wish to exchange life with him had come true, because when Noiz felt slight movement on Aoba’s hand one evening when he’d sit in for his usual bedside waiting, he jolted, his heart picked up speed, and he jumped off his seat when he saw Aoba blinking at the ceiling, slowly.

“N-Noiz…”

He’d been here for forty whole years. While he hadn’t changed for a bit, Aoba had - the traces of age covered most of his features, wrinkles on his face, hair grayed, voice small. He might have changed in appearance, but when their eyes met, Noiz knew that this was the same cheeky, happy, stubborn Aoba he’d once known. He clutched his hand tightly, pressing it against his face and sobbed, quietly, into Aoba’s hand, until he felt a weak pat on his head that he looked up, just to see Aoba _smiling_ at him.

They didn’t need to exchange more words between each other to know exactly what they were intending to tell each other.

Because no matter how long or how much they’d missed each other, they’d still be the one who they fell in love with, despite how different they both were.

 


	13. Distraction [Noiz x Desire]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Club AU. All Noiz wanted was a distraction; but all he’d gotten was something far better.

He liked nothing about the high volume of music hitting him right in the head like solid wall. All he ever wanted to do was to find a place which could serve him the best distraction but all that he had gotten now was a head of unnecessary noise and pointless angel-versus-demon debates that did nothing but intensifying the frustration within him.

Drowning the umpteenth cup of alcohol down his throat, his eyes darted unconsciously towards the dance floor, eyebrows furrowed and regrets overwhelmed his insides the moment he did just that. More than half of the men on the dance floor were topless, their well-defined abs displayed in great shape as colourful spotlights wandered over the pool of moving body parts. The air smelled greatly of salt and all Noiz ever wanted to do was to move himself away from this filthy place, finally realizing that the heat had started to create a novel effect on his body. He didn’t particularly like the tingling sensation going through his skin at the moment; it was an unnecessary distraction – one that he wasn’t looking for. About to stand up and leave the place, something else caught his attention, halting his actions – standing by the exit was a man, whose built was small and looked like a teen who wasn’t supposed to be in here. He was leaning against the wall, the colour of his eyes being the only thing that Noiz could visibly make out as he folded his arms, looking as unsatisfied as Noiz was.

Thinking that this person could be one that he could use as his distraction instead, he stood up from his seat, squeezed his way towards the man and only stopped when he stood right in front of him. The man seemed to have realized him a minute later as he looked up, evidently annoyed before a scowl appeared in between his eyebrows.

“What do you want?” he asked, irritation obvious in his tone.

Regardless of how much he intended to hide it, this man looked as exasperated as ever, amusing Noiz greatly as he drew a smirk on his face.

“Bored?” He almost had to shout his words out but the man clearly heard him when he let out an infuriated huff.

“Say for yourself,” he said, and was about to turn away when Noiz grasped his wrist, stopping him.

“Want to hang out?” Noiz asked. He was interested. This man was clearly here for a reason but the mere fact that he was standing by himself in a corner of a bustling room intrigued Noiz in ways he couldn’t comprehend. Perhaps he was looking for a distraction too; perhaps he, like himself, had regretted everything the moment he realized that this place wasn’t what he was looking for.

If that was the case, then they could be the right opponent for each other. At least for that night.

Surprisingly, the man closed his eyes with a smirk. It seemed like he wasn’t just another regular customer Noiz would’ve expected him to be.

“What can I get if I follow you?” he asked instead, his voice echoed loudly despite the booming music surrounding them.

But it wasn’t a question Noiz was unfamiliar with. In fact, it was one he often threw at others himself.

Mirroring his smirk, he leaned closer, the tip of their noses almost touching before he finally answered,

“I’ll feed you.” He almost laughed at the way the other man’s eyes brightened with surprise. “You seem like you need to be fed more often,” he ended by lowering his gaze to the man’s body, an obvious tease.

Clicking his tongue, the man pushed him away, then sticking his hands into his jacket pockets as he turned his back towards Noiz, clearly heading towards the exit.

Did he piss him off too much? Noiz thought. But as the man turned to look at him from over the shoulder, he instantly knew that it was in fact, the opposite.

“Are we going somewhere or not?”

Lifting the corners of his lips higher, he nodded, leading them out of the club.

They found themselves in a pizza parlour, one which Noiz had suggested. The man seemed to have an opinion about this when they found themselves in front of the shop but nonetheless, he followed Noiz in anyway.

“You eat this kind of thing every day?” he asked as soon as they settled themselves on one of the seats.

“It’s good,” Noiz replied simply, opening the pizza box and picking one slice up. “Try.”

The man dropped his jaw in surprise. A few moments of suspicious stare later, he helped himself with one of the pieces, shoving it into his mouth and eyes brightened in astonishment when the sweet taste of pineapple spread in his mouth.

“Right?” Noiz asked after finishing his own piece.

He didn’t want to give this man such an easy win so instead of answering, he kept quiet, focusing on finishing his food instead until Noiz put a second piece onto his plate.

“Eat more.” was all he said before he picked another slice up for himself.

He thought the man was joking, that telling him that he’d feed him was intended to tease him. But it seemed to him that he was taking this way too seriously than he expected him to so, without knowing what else he could do, he dove back into his food, all the time casting distrustful glare at the blond-haired man until they were completely done with their meal.

“So, what now?” he finally spoke. He was _sure_ that this man had more things up his sleeve and baiting him here for food was just the prelude to everything he intended to do.

“What else do you want to do?” Noiz asked instead, taking incredulity at the way the other man grimaced at him again, visibly aggravated.

“I thought you’re going to ask me to, I don’t know, give you head or something.”

Noiz quirked a startled eyebrow. This man was remarkably bold. Letting out a smirk, he shook his head, then supporting his chin with his hands as he gazed at the other guy, who was _still_ giving him a look that spelt nothing but qualms.

“So if I am to ask you to do that, would you do it?” His voice was low, deep, husky. And it sent a shiver down his spine, totally not expecting this.

“Well, if that’s what I need to do to pay you back for this,” he said, pointing his chin at the empty pizza box.

“Not to pay me back for this,” Noiz denied. “But as a distraction.”

“Distraction?”

“Isn’t that what you’re looking for too?”

It was a few moments of silence before a loud a laugh broke out between them, one that was evoked by the stranger.

“If that’s how you put it,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Noiz.”

“I’m Aoba.”

Noiz let out an instinctive chuckle. He was expecting a more badass name; ‘Aoba’ was definitely not in his list of consideration.

“What?” Aoba frowned.

“Nothing. Shall we?”

He didn’t even tell him where he was leading him to, and he didn’t expect him to ask either. But both of them seemed to have known the destination without having any of them to respond because when Noiz walked and eventually stood in front of his apartment, Aoba never showed any sign of curiosity, let alone disbelief. He led him into the space, taking his coat, then his shirt off in the process and quietly observed the way Aoba did the same. He wouldn’t call him awkward, but Aoba was definitely one of his kind; he wasn’t emitting an innocent aura, but the way he brought himself told Noiz that he was definitely more than capable to win a fight by himself if he were to try hard enough. And the fact that he’d brought up such insinuation had further convinced Noiz that he must have, at least once, encountered such similar experience that had ultimately led to someone else asking him for sex in exchange.

As he walked into the bedroom, Aoba followed him without a single question. And as he sat on the bed, Aoba followed him again, kneeing in between his legs and was about to pull the zip of his jeans open when Noiz reached out to play with his hair.

“What?” Aoba asked again. This time, there wasn’t any hint of suspicions in his eyes; rather, they were replaced by a thick hint of inquisitiveness that did nothing but further intensifying the curiosity within Noiz.

“You have very nice long hair,” he complimented, brushing his hair in between his fingers.

“You’re going to laugh at me,” Aoba pouted, an unexpected gesture that caught Noiz off guard.

“No, I’m complimenting you.”

“Lies.”

And before he knew it, Aoba had took his dick out. It was still soft but what had made Aoba widened his eyes in surprise wasn’t the fact that he was now staring at another man’s dick but how tiny piercings glinted weakly under the weak light source in the room, something that he was sure that he would never discover on another man’s length. He looked up at Noiz, who was smirking at him, then back at the piercings again before he swallowed down his throat.

“Man, you’re one reckless kid,” he said, taking the dick in his hand and giving it leisure pumps.

“Do you like them?” Noiz asked, taking pleasure in seeing a faint hint of blush painting across Aoba’s face when he threw him the question.

“I don’t care,” Aoba said, suddenly fastening his pumping speed.

“Hm,” Noiz hummed. “Really?”

“They look ugly,” Aoba commented again, an obvious attempt to shut Noiz up.

“Do you want some on yours too?” Noiz teased. “I can do it for you.”

“Cut me some slack,” Aoba frowned. Stopping his thrusts, he pulled his face closer, the head of Noiz’s dick almost touching his lips.

He wanted to say something else to draw more unanticipated expression out of Aoba but Aoba took that precise moment to suck the whole of his head into his mouth, licking on the slit at the same time and almost taking the breath out of Noiz.

It had been a while since he had someone sucking his dick and it left Noiz in a confused stupor. He usually didn’t have the problem taking care of his sexual needs but the way Aoba was sucking and teasing and licking his dick did things to him. It was a different sensation, a different experience, and it was slowly pushing Noiz towards the sweet door of addiction when he found himself clutching the mattress, attempting to contain the dangerous wave of pleasure that had suddenly threatening to engulf the whole of his composure.

Aoba said nothing after that, solely concentrating on giving Noiz head. He wasn’t particularly good at it and it didn’t need long for Noiz to tell that he hadn’t had a lot of experiences either. But there was just something with the way he was enthusiastically sucking on Noiz that ultimately had Noiz grasping on Aoba’s shoulders instead, his limit hitting treacherously close to the end.

“Aoba…” he called out, voice hoarse and profound. “Close.”

That was when Aoba released his length with a loud pop. Wiping the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, he looked up at Noiz, an impish look gracing his features.

“Do you want me to drink it or…?”

It was certainly not something Noiz would expect but he let out a smirk nevertheless.

“Do whatever you want.”

“Thanks for the food then.”

And that was all Aoba said before he took Noiz’s dick deep into his mouth again, the tip hitting the back of his throat as he sucked harder, occasionally pulling on the piercings until he felt Noiz’s erection throbbing in his mouth that he knew that one hard suck was all he needed to finish Noiz off.

Noiz tasted bitter on his tongue but he took everything he released in anyway, even licking away the cum that’d escaped from his lips while Noiz leaned back, trying to catch his breath and trying to recover from the intense ride.

“Brat, you okay?” Aoba asked, hovering over Noiz as he gave him a suggestive stare. “Now how about you take care of mine as an exchange?”

He wasn’t sure what kind of person he’d landed himself with. But he was _sure_ that this person was definitely a great distraction – a deadly effective one, to say the least.

 


	14. Rewind [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reincarnated Soulmates who remember their past lives the first time they touch.
> 
> Takes place in DMMd verse, their encounter takes a swift turn when they realized the man before them isn’t exactly who they think he is. An alternate canon plot-change.

The first impression he held towards the man before him was nothing but intimidation. He didn’t know his face, didn’t know what was under that huge rabbit-head the man was wearing from a distance away. All he knew was that the man was giving out an aura that spelt powerfully of indifference.

…or that was what he thought.

When the first attack hit him directly on the limb, he staggered ever so slightly, attempting to calm himself down from the crushing pressure within him that’d blossomed out of nowhere. But his opponent evidently wasn’t intending to give him a moment to breathe because in the next second, another attack came towards his way; this time, hitting him directly on the head.

He thought he’d die then and there; but then he was reminded that he was in a Rhyme match now and the only death card in this game was severing his brain nerves. It wasn’t technically _death_ , but it was without doubt something that’d push him towards a pit of darkness and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face a meaningless end so fast.

So he tried awfully hard to maintain his conscious; he tried not to pass out, he tried focusing on the green cubes, on the rabbits, on the… _man_.

* * *

The first time he saw him was the first time he’d experienced an encounter so dauntingly terrifying that it took him a long while to pick the puzzles in his head up and wonder if everything was just a nightmare. Even though he was back in the reality he was so very familiar with, he couldn’t help but restart the engine in his head, remembering the vivid sensation of when he felt his heart clench at the mere sight of the man. Rhyme was just a mind game, he knew that. Nothing in Rhyme was real – it was made to toy with a person’s brain nerves.

He knew all of that.

But for some reason, as he rolled to his side and curled himself up on his bed, he let out a heavy sigh, wondering if the pang of warmth in his chest meant anything at all.

There was no way he could obtain the answer he dreadfully needed, no matter how long he was to sink himself in his own thought. And it exasperated him; it aggravated him so much that he wasn’t sure if he knew how staying composed felt like anymore.

He never met the man again, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet him again either. The man’s existence in his life had quaked his balance, constraining him into a realm of uncertainty and giving him thoughts he never knew he possessed. He didn’t want to meet the man again; he thought he could forget him just like that. He thought, if he was to stop himself from thinking too much, stop himself from reviving the fleeting moment he’d once shared with the stranger, his life would, sooner or later, return to normal. He thought that was the solution to rebalance the quiver within him.

But it was a fight between his brain and his heart. And in due course, he found himself staring vacuously at the ceiling in his dark room, once again reigniting the moments in the Rhyme field, and once again, he found himself fixing his attention on nothing but the man in the rabbit-head costume, wondering if their acquaintance was just mere coincidence, or consequential.

He was so close to let the unusual feeling he held towards the man slip out of his chest but when he was about to confront _another_ man who’d barged into his house without his permission, he felt his heart giving out a loud thump, one that had him stood frozen in the doorframe.

“Welcome home.”

He hated himself for overreacting like this, even though it wasn’t something he could help. He had yet to soothe to rampage of tangled emotions within him but now, he found all the snoozing emotions bursting out of his nerves all at once, all over again. He’d never seen this man before and he couldn’t understand what the reason to his sudden irrepressible emotions was. He wanted to say something, to ask this man questions – _anything_ at all – but what came out of his mouth instead was,

“What are you doing in my house?”

The man let out a smirk before he sent a glare at Aoba’s direction.

“You really don’t remember?”

_That_ put Aoba into a deeper abyss of confusion. He had a lot of things he couldn’t remember – things like what happened to him when he was younger and was still in the Rhyme arena – but this wasn’t what he was expecting from the man. It’d even be better if the man was to attack him out of nowhere, not leaving ambiguous clue like this which did nothing but intensifying the scorching urge to know within Aoba.

Before he could answer, the man gave him a deeper smirk. Then, with a voice that sounded almost unlike his own, he started,

“This time, it is such an honor. So let’s have a fun game, shall we?”

He felt shivers running down his spine. It was _him_.

Stepping backwards, he found his back hitting the world, completely speechless. His brain had taken over the job of his body, where he found himself muttering a “it’s you” at the man, who was advancing towards him with heavy, measured steps.

What happened next was totally out of his own comprehension. All he knew was that the man was coming dangerously close to him. He heard his own voice, shouting at the man, telling him about all sorts of wrongs. But what he _never_ expected was the impulsive rush of sentiments, of unknown memories within him when the man ultimately grasped him on the wrist, making their first ever physical contact as he pressed him hard against the wall, almost hitting the breath out of him.

It was a two whole minutes of agony when they did nothing but staring into each other’s eyes: excitement, fear, shock, surrealism – a whole range of emotions painting their features, reflecting scenes after scenes of memories they never knew in their heads. And it was another five whole minutes before the man released Aoba, head lowered and eyes staring blankly at the floor until Aoba broke the silence in the room.

“H-hey…”

He looked up, just to see Aoba smiling at him.

“Long time no see.”

He didn’t know how to respond, or rather, _what_ to respond. It was when Aoba placed both of his hands against his face that he finally secured his gaze on the other man, still visibly confused.

“ _Noiz_.”

He didn’t remember himself telling him his name. He knew Aoba’s name perfectly well, he’d done various researches on him. But Aoba’s name was just another name then; it was just a label and it held no meaning whatsoever to it. Now, it’s different. The moment he heard his own name seeping out of Aoba’s lips - the _name_ he was never fond of being called in such a comforting voice - he found his words trapped in his throat, heard his heart beating deafeningly in his ears, until Aoba pulled him over for a firm hug that he found his hands wrapping themselves around Aoba’s torso on impulse.

There were a lot of things he wanted to tell Aoba; a lot of questions he wanted to ask Aoba. But instead, what fell from his mouth in the end was…

“I’m sorry.”

Aoba only shook his head, smiling into Noiz’s head as he felt the familiar clench in his heart. He never knew why he would feel so incredibly riled over the mere existence of a man he only met once.

But now, he knew why. It was because this man wasn’t just another man – he was _Noiz_ , and _Noiz_ was the person whom he’d sworn to protect, and to live forever with, regardless of which dimension or in which era they were to live in.

It was a vow he’d formed between them in a past life they’d both forgotten until now; and at this very second, Noiz wasn’t just Noiz. He was his partner, his boyfriend, his husband.

“I’m sorry,” Noiz muttered again, drawing another shake of head from Aoba.

He knew perfectly well why Noiz was apologizing. But he smiled at him all the same.

The past was the past and there was no reason to dwell over it anymore. In their past, he wasn’t able to fulfil the vow he made to Noiz - the sound of gunshot still pulsating at full volume in his ears; he remembered the pain on his chest where the bullet had penetrated his flesh.

He remembered the last words he’d heard before he sank into darkness being “ _I’m sorry_ ”, said with the same tone, same remorse by this very same person he was hugging in his arms now.

“Shh,” he hushed, patting Noiz on the head. “It’s the past. It’s over.”

Noiz didn’t seem convinced for the most part but he nodded into Aoba’s shoulder nevertheless.

“Welcome home, indeed,” Aoba said as he let out a bitter smirk.

Their encounter in their past life was one ironic story of its own; but when he thought about how they’d met each other in _this_ life, he chuckled to himself, wondering why he hadn’t realized how similar their acquaintance was as compared to the last life they once shared –

– where they met as enemies, but ended up as lovers in the end, just like what was going to happen again now, here, in this life.

 


	15. Chance 101 [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reincarnated soulmates that remember their past lives the first time they touch.

The first time he met the new bodyguard he’d found a bizarre sense of shiver running down his spine, giving him a sort of intimidation he never knew he’d experience. The bodyguard was definitely sturdy, at least that was what he’d gathered from his appearance. He’d assumed him to be an all-rounder too, judging from the no-bullshit aura he had been giving out ever since they met eyes. Nevertheless, he was definitely a threat to Aoba and Aoba had to look away for a few seconds after an agonizing force of insincere smile just so he could distract himself for a moment to contain his own emotions.

He had only _one_ task. All that he needed to do was to clear this assassin task off his plate and he’d be free for at least a month now. He’d yearned for this break; constant killing had been taking a toll on him. Frequently, he’d find himself staring into void, as if he’d lost his identity at the moment, or if his presence as ‘Aoba’ had ever existed before. He’d owned multiple identities. It was nothing surprising; it was just part and parcel of being an assassin and he’d _tried_ to live with it. But nothing he did could suppress the sense of unable to belong within him and before he knew it, he was being pulled into a tangled bunch of complications that ultimately had him requested for a break just so he could sustain the final bit of sanity he’d left within him.

But he’d never expected this last job to be so exultantly tough. He’d met hundreds of bodyguards before; he’d dealt with many before and at most times, he found no trouble hiding under his innocent mask. No one had ever suspected him to be the killer of their Master; his lack of pretension in drawing a smile on everyone’s face had done his job for him. And no one would suspect him to be _their_ killer as well, his smirk and petrifying golden-coloured pair of eyes being one of the most lethal weapons they’d encountered.

So, this time, when Aoba found himself gaping at the indifferent expression the bodyguard was giving him now, it caught him off guard. Attempting to contain the frustration within him, he straightened up, walked towards the bodyguard again, and tried to _influence_ him, just like how he had always done with the many others.

“This place is pretty relaxing,” he started, even though the tone in his voice was way lacked in confidence than he’d wanted it to be. “There’s nothing you should worry about.”

“Isn’t that a problem by itself?” The man’s question pulled him out of his confidence shell again as he stopped, just to give the man a questioning stare. “If there’s nothing to worry about, I shouldn’t be here in the first place after all.”

His clarification sent waves of dismay down the whole of Aoba’s body. Scowling, he looked away, no longer know what else he could say. This person was right. The whole reason why the owner of this house had decided to hire more bodyguards was all thanks to the rumours he’d gather about an assassin who’d made his way into the house. The whole reason why Aoba and this person was here was just so they could tighten up the security, and prevent it from happening altogether.

“By the way, aren’t you here for the same reason too?” the man asked out of nowhere.

“Huh?” I really caught Aoba off guard this time. This was the first time he was facing such a vigilant man like this person and for a moment, he could only stare senselessly at the man, unsure of what to say.

“Aren’t you here to wipe the assassin off once and for all as well?” the man stressed, taking one step closer towards Aoba and giving him a stare so intimidating that Aoba felt as if he was being scanned from the inside out.

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered. “Of course.”

The glare the man gave him after told him that he wasn’t perfectly convinced either.

* * *

They hadn’t been in much contact with each other either. They had their own designated roles and all Aoba wanted to do was to find the perfect gap for his plan as soon as possible so that he could complete his task and leave this job once and for all. But every time he found himself extremely close to his goal, he would always find the bodyguard approaching him, his lime-green orbs vibrating in such intense wary that had Aoba stopping whatever snoopy activities he was doing as he quickly resuming to his own bodyguard role. It’d been countless times when Aoba would discover the new man eyeing him with suspicions filled powerfully in his eyes and all that was in his head was questions after questions about how and why would this stranger treat him like a threat when he’d literally done _nothing_ suspicious at all in the first place? Did he accidentally annoy him? Or had he already found out what he was up to? All the same, it frustrated Aoba to no end as he found himself faltering into a deep hole, one where light was way too far for him to achieve.

Interaction between them was awkward. They rarely spoke to each other, but they knew that all their senses were fixed at each other as if they were each other’s prey at all times. On the rare occasions when they actually _had_ to talk to each other, all that they could feel from each other’s tone was profuse insincerity and sarcasm. As days turned into weeks, Aoba found his patience reaching the end of his limit.

There was no way he could allow this new person to ruin his plan; especially not when he was _so close_ to being able to attain the freedom he very much wanted.

So he decided to step up his game. One fine evening, he stopped the man while they were on their way back to their dormitories, right outside the mansion.

“We need to talk,” Aoba said, completely upfront.

The man merely gave him another dismissive stare before the corners of his lips curled into a smirk.

“About time,” he said nonchalantly, every word of his pricking Aoba’s nerves.

“Why _exactly_ are you acting so alert towards me? Did I do something wrong?” Aoba asked again. There was no way he could hit around the bushes anymore. He’d done his fair share of tolerating the situation, now was the time to settle this once and for all.

The man did nothing but glaring at Aoba. Then, he took a step towards him, which had Aoba moved backwards instinctively, until his back hit the wall.

“H-hey—“

It happened so soon that they could barely register what happened. Before Aoba knew it, the man had reached out to grasp his chin, forcing their eyes to meet and before any of them knew it, they were pulled into a state of confusion – one where they found themselves staring at visual after visual of scenes of themselves that they never knew existed. There was blood; a lot of them. And there were also elements that were far too absurd for them to comprehend.

_Horns, huge black wings, white pure wings, halo, thick long tail._

It was as if they were staring at a silent movie with a setting in a supernatural environment and they could do nothing but staring into each other’s eyes, seeing the other waver and ultimately, the man broke the silence, his voice hoarse and deep.

“A-Aoba…”

Aoba almost choked on his own sob. He wasn’t sure if these memories were supposed to belong to them or if they were supposed to remember them. But now that they did, they had no choice but to accept them, embrace them, and in due course, face them.

“I can’t… quite believe,” Aoba started, slow but clear. “I thought we’ll…”

“I know,” the man said again.

“Noiz,” Aoba looked up, just in time to see Noiz letting out a sarcastic smirk.

“Second chance, huh?”

Aoba didn’t have the opportunity to ask Noiz what he meant by that before Noiz engulfed him into a feverish kiss, one that made him feel as if Noiz was sucking his soul out of him – and one that he thought he was familiar with; for that was what this very devilish man had done to him, over and over again, in their past life.

 


	16. Reversed Souls [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their soulmate’s names tattooed on their wrists.

_Soulmate_. **  
**

The mere thought ridiculed him. He didn’t care much about soulmate, didn’t even bother what it actually implied. He’d never seen himself as a person who could live with another person, especially not with his distant personality. He didn’t mind if people were to put their distance apart from him, because he wanted nothing to do with them anyway. People who couldn’t contribute to his needs served as nothing more than an unnecessary existence - just like himself.

He’d noticed the contradictions within him from a long time ago. But he didn’t want to dwell too much on it. All he knew now was to work with his raw instincts: one which he was confident that’d draw him into the right direction of whatever he was looking for.

It didn’t take too long for him to finally noticed the mark on his wrist either. When he was younger, the mark was faint, barely visible and all this while he’d thought it was a scar he’d obtained from a nasty fight that he didn’t notice himself. But as years went by, the mark became more and more apparent. He started to make out the letters on it - “ _A_ ” - but it didn’t signify anything. Soulmate or not, he never wanted to be affiliated with anyone at all. He liked to be by himself, where he could work at his own ease. He didn’t like restraints.

Putting that thought aside, he stood, walked out of his door, and started searching around for a potential excitement for the night.

If he had to choose, it’d be Rhyme.  Rhyme over soulmate, an obvious decision. Rhyme could give him the thrills he needed in his veins; Rhyme could give him the loud heartbeats he’d hear in his ears; Rhyme could give him _everything_ he needed.

He thought he’d championed the game. He didn’t like to lose. But truth was, he had yet to win that one person whom had, not only championed the game, but had always given him a stare so pointed that he thought he’d offended him from his existence alone.

_Slyblue._

Slyblue was prominent; his wavy long blue hair, his striking golden eyes along with his playful smirk were all traits Noiz had firmly crafted into his head ever since the first time he’d set eyes on him. Slyblue seemed to know him as well. Whenever they crossed path, he’d always notice how the other man would give him an intentional smirk, one that he’d always return with his own. It was like a long competition of endurance and before he knew it, he found himself being utterly attracted to the other man - the urge to _win_ burning ever so intensely from within him.

They’d never spoken to each other before, even though they had a lot of chances to trigger a match between each other. But all they did was watching each other’s match.

For some reason, Noiz felt as if Slyblue was testing his patience. It was as if he was waiting for something; something Noiz didn’t know.

“ _O_ ”.

He could no longer bothered about the mark on his skin. All that he was in his mind was Slyblue, Slyblue, and _Slyblue_. He could feel the strong urge to win him from within but Slyblue seemed to be pulling himself off whenever Noiz attempted to invite him for a match. It was weird. For a long time, all he could do was stare from afar, at a match that he had no chance to lay his hands on.

“ _B_.”

He never knew the person that was crafted on his skin, he concluded. The letters that were forming had become apparent enough for him to take a guess on what was to come. Even if he was to meet the person for real, he could never bring himself to open up to him just like that. Soulmate or not, he’d have to say no. He had better things to do than being involved in lovey-dovey activities with someone he didn’t know; he’d rather spend his time like this, watching Slyblue’s match from afar.

“Hey.”  
  


The sudden voice triggered every ounce of defense mechanism from within him as he sprung up his seat, turning around so sharply and was about to go into a defensive stance when his eyes brightened, noticing who had been calling out to him.

“You’ve got a reaaaaally bad habit, you know that?”

It was _Slyblue_.

Without another word, he walked towards Noiz, gave him a quick smirk, then settling himself on the edge of the building, a spot where Noiz just sat a few minutes ago.

“Sit down.”

He didn’t know what Slyblue was trying to do. This was the first time he was talking to him. Reluctantly obeying, he sat beside him, suddenly feeling a surge of awkwardness from within him that he had yet to be able to define.

“You’re pretty slow, aren’t you?”

Slyblue’s conversation opener sounded like nothing but a criticism and Noiz should be mad, he should be very enraged at how this person just conveniently intruded his private space and not only that, putting him in a position where it sounded like he was the one who couldn’t catch up here.

A few moments of quiet scrutinization later, Slyblue let out a quiet chuckle. Then, inching closer towards Noiz, he grasped him on the wrist and pulled it over, completely exposing the incomplete name on his skin.

“Heh.”

Noiz pulled back in such an aggressive way he almost pushed Slyblue off the rooftop they were sitting at.

“You said you don’t want to be connected to people but truth is, you want to, right? You know it yourself.”

Slyblue’s next accusation sounded like another round of riddles and all he could do was glare at him, wanting him to tell him what exactly did he want from him already. But Slyblue merely hummed, his legs dangling off the edge of the building, his eyes glinting with a thick hint of excitement.

“What do you want?” he finally asked, no longer able to sustain the overpowering curiosity within him.

“I’m just interested to know more about someone I could call him as a rival.”

Rival, him?

“But,” Slyblue paused his sentence in midair, giving Noiz a playful sideway smirk at the same time. “I’m more interested to know more about my soulmate.”

He could no longer understand what he was trying to say. While he was attempting to silence the loud voice in his head, Slyblue had held out a hand at him, hinting him to give him his wrist. He obeyed, still extremely curious of what this man wanted from him. Then, as the incomplete name was exposed right under his sight again, he could clearly see the way Slyblue’s lips curved higher, eyes fixed on his skin before he lifted a finger, then, lightly, tracing a letter right behind the “ _B_ ” with his nails.

Noiz stared. Now it looked more like a name.

“ _A_ ”, “ _O_ ”, “ _B_ ”…

“My name is Aoba,” he heard Slyblue said. “Your name is Noiz, right?”

And he thought he never wanted to meet his soulmate. But now, as he looked up to meet Slyblue’s - no, _Aoba_ ’s - cheeky smile, he knew that he was meant to take his words back. Because if he ever had a soulmate, this person was the only person he ever wanted.

 


	17. Winter Acquaintance [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chilliness did nothing to him except for reminding him how he felt about himself. Rescuing a man wasn’t his intention either; but perhaps it was meant to be - for the winter acquaintance redefined how he saw snow once and for all.

The saw-toothed mountain loomed in a distance. Snow was annoying; snow gave him a lot of inconvenience – it was the only thought he had when he felt the sogginess in his snow boots as he made his way out of his cabin. Winter was wet, and white – equivalent of blank. And he hated it for being so simply because it reminded him of himself: empty, hopeless. Everything around him was vampire-white; winter breeze blew at him in a horizontal blur. The atmosphere felt peaceful, the scenery picture-like – but there was nothing beautiful about this serene surrounding that he appreciated.

He wanted winter to end already.

His steps felt heavy when he walked his way down the slope of the mountain, gun mounted over his back as he looked around for his prey of the day. He’d love to hunt more if only walking was easier than this. That was why he _hated_ winter. Clicking his tongue, he stopped, looking up through his half-dazed goggles just to witness necklaces of powdery snow swaddled around him. There was no sign of life and he didn’t want to waste too much time traveling too far anyway, especially not when the air had suddenly become arctic cold with every passing minute.

The walk was unfruitful after all. By the time he reached the border, a limit he’d set for himself, he was already submerged in ghost-grey mist, his visibility expediently taken away from him. He set his gaze in a distance – a town he no longer belonged to was blanketed in snow far from where he was staring, as if every one of the houses there was made of snow inside out; perhaps if he was to take a shovel and plunge it right into these houses now, he’d be able to crush them all and remake them as if he was simply building snow houses.

That’d be great.

There was nothing much to do now. There were no tip-offs of living beings anywhere near him. His hunt was a flop today. Turning his back towards the town, he sauntered his way back to his cabin, following the profuse trails he’d left for himself from where he came.

He could probably eat the remains of what was left from yesterday then. He wasn’t a big eater anyway; a whole deer could probably last him for another few days. At that split second when he envisaged how he’d cook his meal, something that wasn’t _white_ netted the corner of his eyes. He stopped, straightening himself up to turn his gaze towards where he’d captured the foreign object. In a corner, secluded behind a thick trunk was what seemed like a bunch of blue fur, its motion hysterical, the sound he made soft and weak.

Noiz reached to his gun on impulse. It looked small, but it was a prey nonetheless. Elating a small smirk, he moved towards the source of upheaval, taking chary steps with his gun held high. He was already aiming at his prey when the prey stopped moving, peeking its head out from behind the trunk to look at him.

It was a dog.

Which was a rare case of its own. He didn’t get to see a lot of dogs in this area and this particular dog definitely didn’t belong to this place. He lowered his gun, feeling the abundant sense of raider diminished from within him.

The dog, however, ran towards him with great struggle, his paws sinking into the thick layers of snow whenever he did. He stopped by Noiz’s legs, biting on the corner of his pants, pulling on it.

What’s wrong with this dog? Noiz wondered. He seemed like he was trying to pull him somewhere. With a frown, Noiz gazed again, at where the dog emerged from, his eyes brightened as soon as he noticed what he was looking at. There was something – or _someone_ – laying beneath the tree trunk. He could hardly make out what exactly was hiding behind the shadow but he was sure that they weren’t alone.

Making his own strides towards the suspicious item, he held his gun high again, mentally preparing himself for any sort of threats that may come his way.

The dog, however, ran past him and reached the shadow first. And when Noiz finally came to see what was going on, every one of his nerves froze, his vision fixed on the mystery the dog had led him to.

It was a man.

The man’s face was pale when the dog climbed on top of him and licked him on the cheeks. His breathing sluggish and hefty, his blue waves of hair speckled with droplets of melting snow while small spots of white were seen on his cheeks, making his face to appear paler than it already was. While Noiz kneeled one foot down to check on his pulse, the dog gave his hand a lick as well, almost causing him to pull back. The man was still alive, albeit weak. He shouldn’t be meddling with businesses like these. He didn’t know who this man was; all he knew was that he didn’t belong here and he was in no position to be acquainted with a stranger whom he didn’t even know of his background at all. The dog was wagging his tail at him, staring up at him with a pair of eyes that clearly spelt of ‘help’. With another click of tongue, Noiz bent downwards, finding for the man’s arm and pulled him out of the layer of snow that was coating most of his body. He felt so cold, so comatose; and it bothered Noiz to know what would happen to him if he was to leave him here like this.

Maybe he could look after him until he woke up. After that, he’d let him go and have absolutely nothing to do with him then.

Despite the thick layers of winter coat he was wearing, the man felt pretty light on his back. Noiz could feel his heart beating against his back as they took deliberate, heavy steps back to his cabin, with the dog throttling intently by his side. The man was lucky to have his dog staying devotedly with him even when he was knocked out cold. It made Noiz jealous, just for a bit. Seeing someone having a close companion like this made him wonder if this man even needed him in the first place.

But this was the first person he’d come to close contact with ever since a long time ago. The warmth and the sensation of skin-against-skin when he touched the man was pretty addictive, and the weight of a person being held so close to him was something he both yearned and escaped from.

He kicked his cabin door open. He was the only resident on this mountain; most people were either too scared of wild beasts roaming around or they preferred to live in packs. But for Noiz – wild beasts kept him active, living in solitude pulled him away from gratuitous verdicts. This was fine for him.

He put the man gently on his bed, then moved away to light a fire in the fireplace. He waited for a while, until the wood-fire was blazing chirpily in the fireplace, spreading iwarmth and light across the once-cold room that he walked back to where the man was, suddenly at a loss of what to do now. He’d rescued a man, but he’d never done this before. Should he call for help? But the next town was too far away, and he was sure that no one would bother to listen to him seeing how he was a foreigner himself.

A few moments of thoughts later, he pressed a finger against the man’s cheek. It was still numb cold. Perhaps he should warm him up first. Finally feeling a direction of how to move things forward from now on, he supported the man up, taking his layers of garments off him, and only stopping when all that was left on the man’s body was his inner shirt and his pants.

Should he proceed? Noiz doubted.

“Hey,” he called out, voice stumpy. No response.

There was no way he could find out anyway. The man was still unconscious and for all he knew he might be at the brink of falling dead. Fearing that might be the case, Noiz propped the man’s head against his shoulder, then started to take all of his clothing off, starting from his inner shirt, his pants next. The dog had settled by the fireplace when Noiz was busying himself with his owner. He seemed exhausted himself and the fact that he was sleeping like a log by the fireplace now meant that he must have thought of Noiz as a reliable person to take care of his owner. It made Noiz laugh. Why would anyone trust a stranger, anyway?

He tried not to stare too much when he carried a naked man into the shower. He was man after all. There was nothing to be embarrassed of.

It took time for the warm water to fill up but for Noiz, this waiting time was one horrendously long one. He had the man leaning against him, all the while feeling the skin-against-skin sensation where the man touched his exposed flesh. The occasional glimpses he gave the man told him enough of how crumbly he looked like at this moment. If he was to fall into the hands of someone else but Noiz, who knows what would happen to him? Acting completely out of reflex, he traced a careful finger along the man’s face, pushing a lock of hair behind his ear. This man bear features that was so very much different from him it made him question his background even more. He didn’t seem like he was a person who’d take walking around a highly dangerous mountain as a leisure outing either. When he finally placed the man in the bath filled with warm water, he paused, just so he could properly take a close look of the man’s body. It was small-sized, even scrawny. But the man had fair skin, which was now tinted in blotches of pink from the how his flesh was adapting towards the warm water.

“…ngh…” He heard a voice, causing him to halt all of his motions. Was he waking up? He took a cautious glance at the man but his eyes were still closed, with no signs of being conscious.

That was good. He didn’t know how to explain himself if the man was to wake up now, even when he technically did nothing wrong at all. Well, if he could call stripping him off his clothing and touching his bare skin without his permission ‘nothing wrong at all’, that is.

But, well, this was technically his first time washing the body of an unconscious man. He didn’t even know where to start. Picking up the sponge, he poured a fair amount of soap on it, gave the man another vigilant look before he pressed the sponge on his chest. The man responded with nothing more than a small flinch on the face. There were obvious scars on the man’s body, some which Noiz assumed were new, presumably attained when he was traveling in this mountain. It was a miracle of its own to see him making it out alive. Wild beasts were common dwellers here. With this kind of body, it was hard to imagine how he’d be managed to fight one on his own.

While Noiz scrubbed him deftly all over his body, his attention mesmerized by how fine his torso was, he came to a sudden stop when he noticed that something else was oozing out of the man’s skin, causing an uncomfortable whirl of colour on the surface of the water.

Blood.

He jumped at the realization. How didn’t he not realize it sooner? Inching quickly back to the man again, he scanned through every part of the man’s body he could discern. It must be a cut – _but where is it_? It didn’t take Noiz too long to find what he was looking for: near where the ribs were was a deep wound that he’d never noticed when he carried the man into the house. It looked like a scar created by a vicious beast. The mere thought made Noiz swallow down his throat. Was this the reason why he was unconscious, alone, in the woods?

Everything was falling into places now – this man must be hiking, or had some business to do in the woods before he found himself facing a beast stronger than he could handle.

He could probably be dead if Noiz hadn’t found him sooner.

That was why no one should be allowed on this mountain. The agitation simmering from within him, Noiz hastily cleaned the rest of his body, including his wounds, then carried the man back to his bed and started bandaging his scars.

He was used to _this_. Wounds weren’t anything unusual to him after all. After making sure that he had everything covered, he left the man alone, walked into the kitchen and thinking of probably making his meal for himself while he thought about how he could confront the man if he was to wake up later.

* * *

The next time he returned to the bedroom the man was already awake. But all he did was staring at the ceiling, eyes blank. Seeing him awake staggered Noiz further. What should he tell him? Or should he even talk to him? The man seemed to have noticed his presence because in the next second, he turned his head around, meeting Noiz eye-to-eye.

Ah, so his eyes were light-brown. It was spellbinding; a colour Noiz wasn’t used to see.

“You’re awake,” he said, for a lack of better things to say. The man merely stared at him, blinking a few times before he lifted a smile.

“Hi,” he muttered with a hoarse voice. He’d never thought what would this man be like but he presumed that he wouldn’t be of too much of a threat considering how petite he was. But the man brought his expectation to another level. Sure, he wasn’t harmful; in fact, he was unusually gentle – definitely not a man Noiz would expect to meet in the woods.

He didn’t know what to say; he wasn’t used to interactions with others. And he only stared as the man struggled to sit up, one hand holding his head, his eyes closed.

“Are you okay?” Noiz asked, realizing that he needed to break the silence regardless.

“En,” the man made a small voice. “Who are you?” he asked again as he opened his eyes, just to look at Noiz again.

“Noiz,” Noiz said simply. “I found you in the woods.”

“Ah.” He didn’t even need an explanation from the man. All that it mattered to him was that this man was awake now. He seemed fine, anyway. So it was just a matter of time before he left.

That should be the end of their acquaintance.

But.

“I’m sorry,” the man said, head lowered. “Who am I?”

…what?

“I’m sorry?” Noiz reiterated.

“I…” the man trailed, as if attempting to find his own words. “I cannot remember.”

This must be a joke.

“You cannot remember who you are?” Noiz asked, just to confirm.

The man shook his head. “I cannot remember anything.”

This was nothing he expected at all. Rushing to the bag he found together with the man, Noiz searched around inside, hoping to find any sort of items that could tell him the identity of this man. His eyes brightened when he found what looked like a wallet in it. Pulling it out, he opened it, then chartering a sigh of relief when he found what he was looking for.

“’Aoba’”, he spelled, reading the words on the identification card he found in the wallet. “Seems like that’s your name.”

“…’Aoba’,” the man – Aoba – mouthed. “I see.”

‘I see’? This whole thing was starting to sound like a joke. But now that he found his identity, he held no obligation to hold him here any longer at any rate.

“You seem fine,” he said, intending to make his points clear.

“You saved me?” Aoba asked, the smile Noiz had spotted earlier returning to his features. “Thank you.”

Noiz looked away in an instant. He wasn’t used to _any_ of this. Keeping Aoba’s possessions to where they belonged, he turned his back towards the man, and was about to walk out of the room before the man called out to him.

“Where are you going?”

“Getting you some food,” Noiz replied nonchalantly. “You seem like you’re good to go anyway. I won’t charge you anything for the food.”

“’Good to go’?” Aoba seemed to be having problem processing what Noiz had been telling him all this while. “Where am I supposed to go?”

“Home,” Noiz said in a clear-cut manner.

“Oh.” Aoba paused. Noiz remained distance from him. “Can’t I stay?”

“What?” He turned around, giving Aoba a confused look. “Why do you want to stay? You don’t belong here.”

“But I can’t be sure if I belong in wherever I’m supposed to go back to either.”

“How can you be so sure?” Noiz asked, feeling the distress raise within him again.

“There must be a reason why I’m here, right?” Aoba countered, his voice gradually regaining its natural strength. “Maybe I’m escaping from wherever I came from.”

“Or maybe you could be just out for a walk.”

“Here? In the woods?”

“Whatever it is,” Noiz dismissed with a deep scowl in between his eyebrows. “You don’t belong here.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Noiz ceased. Aoba had just used his own words on him. He couldn’t understand this person at all. Who was this person? He only knew of his name. And now even this person himself couldn’t understand himself at all.

This was a whole mess.

“You can’t stay.” He was used to his own seclusion. This was not the time to disturb the flow.

“I’ll stay,” Aoba said, tone firmed. “Until I figure out what I’m doing in this woods.”

And Noiz knew that Aoba wouldn’t budge regardless of what other comebacks he was to throw at him.

* * *

The whole dining session was awkward and quiet. Aoba ate in his own pace, slowly indulging in the delicious taste of meat while Noiz observed. He couldn’t tell if this man was going to pose any harm to him but he wasn’t comfortable with having anyone else in his cabin either.

“Let me do it.” Aoba stood before Noiz could say another word, collecting the dishes on the table and walked towards the kitchen. It astonished Noiz to see how one person could act so naturally like this in _someone else_ ’s house. Aoba wasn’t scared of Noiz at all; for all he knew, Noiz could be just another insane killer who’d rescued him for some other intentions Aoba had absolutely no idea of. But as Noiz gazed at him from his doorframe leading to the kitchen, all he could see was a completely vulnerable man, wearing his very clothes, doing his chores as if they shared the same household.

“Where should I sleep?” Aoba asked once he was done with the dishes. “Ah, you’re my dog, right?”

The dog Noiz had picked up along with Aoba was wagging his tail at his owner, a face of anticipation as Aoba bent down to scoop him up. “Thanks for rescuing him too.” He sent a smile at Noiz’s direction, picking the dog’s paw up to wave at Noiz at the same time. Noiz clicked his tongue. Walking out of the kitchen without another word, he collapsed on the couch, glimpsing inanely at the burning fireplace when he felt the soft material sink beside him.

“How long have you been staying here?” Aoba’s voice was clear and crisp, better than when Noiz first heard it.

“Few years, can’t remember.”

“All alone?”

Noiz kept silent. He had no obligations to reveal too much of his own life to this stranger when he didn’t even know who this person was.

“All alone,” Aoba repeated, caressing his dog while he allowed him to sprawl on his laps. “Don’t you feel lonely?”

Noiz released a sarcastic snigger in response. “I’m alone. Not lonely. It’s two different things.”

“Really?”

This person knew nothing about him but yet he was acting as if he knew everything about him. It kind of pissed Noiz off. With no intention to dwell further with this person, he laid sideway on the couch, curling as he pulled a blanket from the floor.

“You can sleep in my room,” he said frivolously, closing his eyes, signalling the end of the conversation.

“And you? You’re sleeping here?”

No response.

He didn’t bother to open his eyes when he heard the sound of his bedroom door closing.

* * *

He woke up early the next day. No longer knew how else he should handle the new presence in his cabin, he thought of taking a breath of fresh air to clear his mind. Since his hunting was unrewarding yesterday, perhaps today he should compensate for it. Yeah, he should.

Mounting his gun on his back, his hand was on the door, about to pull it open when the bedroom door opened, revealing an Aoba who was already dressed utterly in a set of what seemed like thick layers of garments. He had his bag slung over his shoulder, red-coloured scarf obscured half of his face before he rushed towards Noiz.

“Leaving?” Noiz asked, feeling the weight beneath his chest enlivening.

Aoba nodded. “With you.” Most of his words were muffled behind the bushy material of his scarf but Noiz glared at him nonetheless, having made out what he said.

“I’m going out for a hunt,” he specified. “It’s dangerous.”

“That’s why I’m coming with you,” Aoba reaffirmed with a thin line of scowl in between his eyebrows. “You would need help.”

It was laughable. All these years, Noiz had been hunting all by himself with absolutely no help at all. What made this time different? He shook his head, looking away and pulling the door open. The frosty breeze blew into the cabin right away, snatching the warmth off their skin. It seemed like it was going to be another day of artic cold again.

“You can follow,” Noiz said at long last, recognizing the determination in Aoba’s eyes. “But if you happen to get yourself into danger, I’m not going to save you again.”

“You can count on me!”

For some reason, Aoba’s grin did things to him. And he didn’t want to consider more, didn’t want more distractions than he needed before he stepped out of the cabin, immediately wincing at how his boots became wet when his feet met the snow path.

The woods was unobtrusive as it was yesterday, the only sounds being their lenient footsteps. Noiz’s alertness was higher than usual. He knew that he mentioned that he wouldn’t bother if Aoba was to get himself into troubles now that he’d decided to follow him but he couldn’t help but feel edgy. He had a very bad feeling about this and he disliked it at all. The forest was too quiet for his liking; the tiniest sound made him cringe. Probably it was a bad idea after all. Aoba’s wounds weren’t completely healed either, exposing them in the cold like this would probably worsen it. Besides…

…he halted. He wasn’t sure why he was so concerned about the man anymore. But perhaps it was a sort of perfectionism he held within him – since he was the one who’d saved this man, of course he’d want to ensure that he was safe till the time when he saw him off. It’d hurt his pride if this very man was to get himself injured again after he’d gone through all the troubles to save him.

Yeah, that must be it.

Hurrying his steps, he heard Aoba doing the same from behind him. Did he even bring along a weapon for himself? Probably not. That gave Noiz all the reasons to be more guarded than usual.

It was the sudden garish barks of Aoba’s dog that had him reaching to his gun at his back, retreating enough to block Aoba behind him.

“What is it?” Aoba asked. The dog was growling, his furs standing at their ends as he gazed fiercely towards a far corner, where thick bushes laid.

Noiz didn’t need the dog to play his hunter instinct job for him.

“Run,” Noiz whispered under his breath.

“What?”

“Get back to the cabin.”

“No way.”

“Listen to me,” Noiz’s voice became even more uptight with every passing second.

“No, this is not part of the agreement.” He didn’t need to see Aoba’s face to know that Aoba was frowning at him.

“This is no time to argue,” Noiz snarled under his breath. He didn’t remember when the last time he got so apprehensive was. He was usually composed. But now, his mind was in a mess, his breathing heavy, his heart threatening to break out of his ribcage. He could smell danger and it was stepping its way closer to them the longer they stood there.

“I said, _this isn’t_ —“

But Aoba didn’t manage to finish his words when he was interrupted by a sudden emerge of a huge bear, which had forced its way out of the bushes and glaring at them with eyes that projected feverishly of a predator.

The bear was at least three sizes larger than Aoba and despite every one of his nerves shouting at him, urging him to run as Noiz told him, he stood rooted on the spot. The tips of his fingers quivered, he could feel _terror_ streaming through his veins, but Noiz had pulled his gun out then, aiming it at the bear.

“Aoba,” he called out. It distracted Aoba for a bit; for it was the first time Noiz had called him by the name. “Run.”

Aoba hitched a breath. Even at this time?

“No way.”

“ _Run_!” Noiz was literally shouting at him. The next thing happened so fast that Aoba didn’t have the time to register what had just happened. Before he knew it, he was being pinned on the ground, his balance lost as Noiz hovered over him. This was the first time he’d seen Noiz up close; but definitely wasn’t the state he’d want to see Noiz in.

“Noiz!” he screamed, and was about to push him away when Noiz embraced him with his arms, refusing to move.

“Wait, what—“

His vision was painted red in the next moment. He witnessed, with his own eyes, how Noiz had coughed a huge amount of blood out of his mouth, more blood trickling down his face he coughed.

“Noiz, move away!” Aoba shrieked, the realization of what had happened sent chills down his spine. The bear must have attacked them when they were having their frenzied debate. But instead of what Noiz had promised earlier about having Aoba to handle his own problems by himself, he’d jumped right in front of him and blocked what seemed to be a fatal attack for him.

The whole of Noiz’s weight fell on Aoba then. Despite trying to lift himself up, his body betrayed him; his limbs useless, his vision wavered, almost at the brink of passing out. A huge shadow that towered over them told him that they were about to receive yet another attack from the bear again, which urged him to embrace Aoba firmer just to have Aoba pushing him away.

He didn’t even have the strength to shout, to tell Aoba to run. But the gunshots that replaced his scream were loud enough to befuddle him, the impact vibrated stridently in his ears, pouring a weird sense of ecstasy all over his nerves as his head pounded so strappingly that it was pushing him to the edge of blacking out.

He needed to… save Aoba.

But it was futile. He was… a human, after all. And a human had his limits.

* * *

He thought he was dead for sure when he woke up the next time. His body felt weak, he could barely lift a finger. He blinked for a few times, attempting to get used to the sudden penetration of light in his vision. He heard movements, and he wasn’t sure what happened, or where he was now; but all that he knew was he was extremely still, both his mind and his body was.

“You’re awake?”

He jerked at the voice. He didn’t expect anyone to be at close proximity. He remembered when he’d gotten himself wounded very critically the last time and all he had was himself to tend to his wounds. But now, as he moved his head just so slightly to make out who the voice belonged to, all he saw was a person smiling at him from his side, and then a gentle touch on his forehead.

“You’re lucky the wound isn’t too lethal, you know that?” The man let out a small laugh. Was this an angel? Noiz thought. Was he in heaven? But a few seconds later, his mind returned to him, the senses back to his rationale. This was no angel – it was Aoba.

“I’m alive…” he muttered. Aoba supported him up, only then that he noticed that he was wrapped in thick layers of bandages.

“You so are,” Aoba chuckled. “It’s deep but luckily, not deep enough to hurt your important parts.”

“Are you okay?” Noiz asked instead, eyeing Aoba from top to bottom.

“No thanks to you.”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“The bear.”

“Oh,” Aoba’s grin broadened. “I killed it.”

Could it be that Aoba was actually very strong? Perhaps he could’ve underestimated Aoba all along thanks to the state he’d found him in.

“We’ll have bear paw for dinner tonight,” Aoba said with a sassy smirk, rolling his sleeves up at the same time. “Now, you stay here and don’t move. Let me do the stuff, okay?”

Noiz let out a sardonic chuckle. This was an out-and-out reverse of what happened yesterday – him picking up Aoba, him treating Aoba’s wounds, and him making food for him.

How things changed in such a drastic manner just in a course of twenty-four hours was downright out of his own understanding.

“Alright then, you lay down and—“

“Aoba,” he called out, interrupting Aoba.

“Hm—mph!”

Aoba was about to lean closer to hear what Noiz was about to tell him; he didn’t expect Noiz to grab him on the wrist and push his lips against his when he did. It caught him off guard.

“Thank you,” Noiz muttered against Aoba’s lips when he separated the abrupt fervent.

He thought he was meant to be alone. But this entire incident changed things. Aoba was strong, he had come to admit this fact – strong enough to kill a bear three times his size all by himself.

Living in solitude had always been what he yearned for; that was why he escaped his town anyway. He never felt belonged; he felt as if he was a burden. He didn’t want to oblige to whatever rules and restrictions a ‘town’ placed upon him. So he choose isolation as his lifelong partner.

But something in him had urged him to place his life on stake just to protect one mere stranger he’d picked up from the side of the road. He didn’t even know why he did this, but it was steel-hard truth that this very stranger had saved his life too; one that he never valued.

His minds were in a fast track as he laid on the bed, hearing the unfamiliar yet warm sounds of someone working in the kitchen from outside of his room.

It was snowing, and the weather was no way better than how it was yesterday. But in his cabin, it was warm, safe; and he knew that it wasn’t because of how the fire sparkles in the fireplace that had created this warmth.

Perhaps this time, he could allow an exception. Perhaps he could let his guard down, even when he knew nothing about this stranger.

But for all he knew, he might be dealing with one of the deadliest threats he’d ever face – one that was the reason why he left his town in the first place.

 


	18. Unintentional [Koujaku x Noiz]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I tried to sneak out using my window and now I’m hanging from it. Can you help me?”

He’d made his decision. Finally. He just needed to wait for the right time. When he heard the sounds of lights clicking off echoing from the corridor, he quickly scrambled out of his blanket, off his bed, and made quick paces towards the window. He pulled the curtain, carefully, peeking out of the window glass just to make sure that the coast is clear. Then, giving a final look over his shoulder - as if his parents would appear in his room out of nowhere, as quiet as a ghost - he shifted his focus entirely to the window. It wasn’t hard to open it; it wasn’t locked after all. It took him one hard push to open the window wide, the night breeze immediately gushing its way into his room. The night was chilly, the wind painted a layer of imaginary frost on his skin. But this was no time to turn back now, especially not when he’d planned this for weeks.

Once he made sure that the window was completely opened, he hovered over the window sill, just to catch a good glimpse of the ground below him. There was a bush right underneath his window, a trash bin beside it; if he was to fall off target, he was sure that he’d suffer injuries and ruin his own plan before he could even start it. Clicking his tongue, he squinted through the darkness, as if trying to mentally calculate his fall so that he could ensure an accurate landing. It wasn’t possible. It was too dark for him to see, let alone locating the exact spot where he wanted to land safely. It was a miscalculation. But there wasn’t any space for regrets now. Letting out a heavy sigh, he moved away from the window, just to grab a stool from one corner of his room and position it just enough for him to be able to climb over the sill.

He did it; one of his legs was out. He grasped tightly on the window sill, his whole life depended on it. He could feel his own heart picking up speed, feel the wind becoming stronger with every passing second. His leg was becoming numb even before he could move. Swallowing down his throat, he positioned himself again, making sure he had a good grip on the window sill before he shifted his other leg out.

It was terrifying. He lost his gravity, he was stepping on _nothing_. He was literally hanging from the window. His hands hurt from the grip, he was sure he’d cut himself when he fell out of the window. He couldn’t even look down to estimate his fall. There was _no way_ he could fall exactly where he wanted to now.

This was a _huge_ miscalculation.

“Oi, kid!”

A loud voice broke the silence of the night. He managed to turn his head slightly, just enough to make out the shadow of a boy, who was perhaps, a lot more older than him.

“What are you doing there?!” the boy had shouted at him. He wanted so very much to silent him; any more shouting would only wake his parents up and that was the last thing he wanted, if the injuries he’d sustain when he fell hadn’t come close to it.

The boy literally ran to his front lawn. “Hang in there! Don’t let go!”

He wanted to let go already. This was way too embarrassing and there was no way he’d want someone - a _stranger_ , even - to witness how he’d gorgeously failed his plan in such a pathetic way. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to just let himself fall already.

As if sensing the danger, the boy _climbed over_ the fence, practically ran his way over his lawn and stood right below him, stretching his hands up at him.

“It’s okay! You can jump now! I’ll catch you!” he had shouted at him. 

This was between his life and his pride. Sure, he’d love to succeed this plan by himself, but was that worth his life?

Probably not.

He tried to catch the boy’s eyes, wanting to give him a nod. And when he did, the boy returned it. He could vaguely see his eyes now - they were brilliantly red in color, determined but not losing a hint of kindness; that was probably why he found himself intruding people’s lawn just to save him.

He let go, feeling the wind stronger than before. It was just two seconds of gravity lost when he found himself landing aggressively into the arms of the boy.

“Woah! I got you, I got you!” 

He was saved. He’d closed his eyes during the fall, but as soon as he realized that he was now safe and unscarred, he opened his eyes, just to see the boy looking concernedly at him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, in which Noiz struggled out of his hug and sat on the grass floor before he nodded.

The boy joined him, surprising him. They ended up leaning against the wall, trying to catch their breath.

“That was a close call,” the boy broke the silence. “What are you thinking climbing out of the window like that? You might break a bone or even worse, _die_ if you fall like that.”

That was a miscalculation, Noiz wanted so much to tell him. But he kept to himself, staring at his bare feet with his face buried in between his knees.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’re in shock,” the boy continued asking. He shot him a side-way stare, eyes wide when he found the boy smiling at him.

“I’m fine,” he replied quietly, just to assure him that he was _really_ fine. His over-concerned was starting to overwhelm him.

“That’s good,” the boy grinned widely, ruffling Noiz on the hair. “I’m Koujaku, by the way.”

“Noiz,” Noiz mumbled in between his knees. 

“So, tell me, _Noiz_ ,” Koujaku started, inching closer towards Noiz just so he could come face-to-face with him. “Why did you try to run away?”

He had his own reservation about telling his own problem - his _family_ problem - to a stranger whom he’d known for only a couple of minutes. But this particular stranger was one who’d literally _saved_ him. Perhaps he could change his plan a little; this time, with the help of others.

 


	19. End of the World [Koujaku x Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the world and we’re all we got.

_Year 2039_. Humankind achieved miracles. 

The concept of immortality was always a faraway dream for the mortals. They once believed that humans live and die, it’s a common, yet inescapable living process. No one was allowed to live more than they should; no one was allowed to cheat death.

 

But then, the discovery of a whole new cell transfiguration method changed everything - everything humans believed, and everything that once was a fairy tale became a reality.

Everyone was transfixed, but they cheered, the celebrated, they said things like it was a transformation of human history. 

And then, it started. The method promised long life. It promised to maintain one’s life span for more decades, centuries, or even eternity. It was a promise that was so deliciously sweet that no one could resist it. 

_Year 2040_. It was a year when human beings cheated death. 

It worked for a very long period of time. Soon, 10 years passed, then 20 years, then 30. The mortals were having a great life, being able to cheat the Grim Reaper.

“Hey, Aoba!”

Looking out of the window, Aoba waved happily at the man in front of the gate before he ran out to meet him.

“Done with work?” he asked, while the other man gave him a gleeful smile.

“Yup.”

“So what brings you here?" 

"Am wondering if you want to join me for dinner?" 

This man was his childhood friend. He remembered growing up with him, but he left him for a few years, and returned later, looking a bit different than how he remembered him to be but was still glad that he was the friend he once knew. No matter how much time has passed - not like they were concerned about it anyway - Aoba was pleased that he remained the same.

"Sure,” he said, closing the door behind him and walking down the street with Koujaku. “Where are we heading to?”

“I found out a new restaurant at the corner of the street. I bet you’ll like it,” Koujaku said, the excitement obvious in his tone.

Aoba hummed in response. One thing he loved about Koujaku was how optimistic he was, and how open minded he was towards a lot of things. 

Soon, they found themselves in a traditional Japanese restaurant. Blinking around, completely amazed, Aoba joined Koujaku after he examined the pot of bonsai near the counter as he quickly took the seat beside him.

“Wow, how did you manage to find out about this place?” he asked. Truth be told, it was hard to locate a place like this especially when they were now going through a revolution  _and_ an evolution. Places like these were deemed old-fashioned and a lot of them closed down even before they had the chance to properly grow.

“My friend told me about it,” Koujaku responded, ticking the menu off for things he wanted. “And I thought of trying it out with you.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Aoba said, peeking over at what Koujaku had ordered and adding his preference onto the list.

“Well, of course,” Koujaku straightened up and said proudly. “Who do you think you are talking to?”

Instantly, they heard loud coughs from behind them and they turned around just in time to see a blond-haired man looking over his shoulder and smirking at them.

“Not you again,” Koujaku scowled as he gritted his words through this teeth.

“I always thought you’re senseless, but I never thought you to be  _so_ shameless as well,” the blond said, now turning around to meet the pair.

"Noiz, I didn’t know you’re here too,” Aoba quickly said as he greeted the nineteen-year-old with a cheerful smile. Noiz was once his junior in high school and he was also his neighbor, whom he sometimes spent his gaming time with. 

“Do you want to join us?” he continued, immediately causing Koujaku to stare shockingly at him.

“Aoba?!”

“I don’t mind,” Noiz said nonchalantly. “But does  _a particular big brother_ mind?”

"Koujaku wouldn’t mind, right?” Aoba asked, eyeing him sideways and giving him a knowing glare.

Koujaku stared, silent for a few minutes before he gave out a sigh.

“Do whatever you want.”

So that was how Noiz shared the same table as them. Munching quietly on their food, Aoba kept trying to strike a conversation between them, albeit sometimes the attempt sounded a bit too desperate. Seeing that, Koujaku quickly added in his thoughts, intending to ‘save’ Aoba from the miserable situation he’d lured them into. Noiz remained quiet at most times, although Aoba knew perfectly well that he was on all ears, probably didn’t know how to respond.

“By the way, how’s Tae-san?” Koujaku asked, sipping on a bottle of sake he’d just ordered.

“Ah, she’s… doing well,” Aoba stuttered as he quickly put a piece of tamago into his mouth to hide his awkwardness.

“You sure?” Koujaku pressed.

“… yeah.”

But both of them knew that she wasn’t. Her age was catching up to her and although they knew that there was this cell transfiguration method which could prolong her life, Tae didn’t seem very receptive towards it, hence causing her to refuse trying to out.

“Have you talked to her about it?” Koujaku asked. Even when he didn’t explicitly spell out exactly what ‘it’ was, he knew that Aoba understood him.

“Yeah, but she still refused to try it out.”

“As expected from Tae-san,” Koujaku said after giving out a sigh.

“Did you two try it out?” Noiz interrupted and both Koujaku and Aoba were stunned momentarily before Aoba shook his head and Koujaku shrugged. 

“Then don’t force anyone else to try,” the youngest of the three continued, still with the indifferent tone.

Before Koujaku could jump on him, Aoba quickly said.

“Did you, Noiz?”

It took a while but Noiz shook his head, crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back against his seat.

“I don’t trust that thing.”

Koujaku and Aoba looked at each other, bewildered. Noiz seemed to be sinking into his own thoughts. When the silence between them spread, he suddenly said.

“It’s a promise too good to be true.”

At that moment of time, neither Koujaku or Aoba understood what Noiz meant. But soon, the truth dawned upon them.

It was a lie. It was a white lie. It was too good to be true.

No one predicted the consequences. No one predicted the after effects. With the weight of modification one did to their cells, the impact was stronger. Instead of giving you extra few more decades to live, it took away your few decades instead. Everything was going backwards. 

No one knew what with the sudden change. No one knew how to counterattack it. And with almost everyone who had tried the method out, things went out of control. It’d take a few more decades to finally come out with an antidote but humankind didn’t have the time for it. Because no one could live  _that_ long to work on it. Soon, they were hit by the truth. The entire world went into crisis. It was a world of panic attacks. The globe sank into chaos. People died for various unnecessary reasons; they murdered each other, they robbed, they betrayed. 

It was the end of the world.

The once lively neighborhood was now blanketed with a cloudy, fear-filled atmosphere. Looking out of his room window, Aoba gave out a quiet sigh before he returned to sit on his bed. Both Koujaku and Noiz were in his room. Koujaku stayed down the street but his house was invaded by groups of insane, out of control human beings that he had no choice but to move into Aoba’s. Noiz was here because Aoba insisted him to. He had no one to look after him, both his parents at the other end of the world, and Aoba was worried about him - he didn’t one the only friends -sane people he knew - to get hurt or even die.

“It’s good thing that all of us never tried that whatever cell transfiguration method,” Koujaku said, slumping on the couch and placing his hands behind his head. “Otherwise we’ll all be zombies by now.”

“…Say, Koujaku,” Aoba started quietly. “I’ve always wanted to ask but… why didn’t you take it?”

Koujaku fell silent for a while, the only sound around them being the sound of Aoba’s wall clock and the strong wind outside the window. 

“I don’t think I deserve to live longer than anyone else,” Koujaku finally admitted. “You might not know, Aoba, but…” He paused for a long while before he said quietly. “When we were separated, things happened. And I… I killed my own family. So I don’t think I deserve to even live, let alone living longer than I should.”

Koujaku had never told Aoba this before and it came as a shock. But by now, with the situation they were in, it didn’t matter anymore. 

“How about you, Noiz?” Aoba turned to Noiz instead, intending to snap them out of the moody atmosphere now spreading between them.

“Like I said, it’s a promise too good to be true,” the younger one merely said before he went back to typing furiously on his laptop. Noiz was the reason why they were still safe from attacks. With his extraordinary hacking skills along with his rich resources, they were able to stay alive until now.

“What about you, Aoba?” Koujaku asked instead, sitting up from the couch and staring at Aoba. “Why didn’t you try it?”

“I…” Aoba trailed off. “I… don’t think it’s worth living long if Granny is to, you know, die before me. There’s no reason for immortality if we couldn’t protect our loved ones.”

Both Koujaku and Noiz looked at him, stunned. Then, they gave out small chuckles while Aoba stared confusedly at them.

“You’re right,” Koujaku said, walking over to ruffle Aoba on the head. “Now this is the end of the world and we’re all we got. We’ll protect each other.”

Aoba nodded as Noiz said. “We’ll live through this.”

Even though they might be the only ones breathing on this lifeless planet, they knew they would survive it. 

They didn’t need immortality to be happy, or even to be perfectly alive. Because they had each other - and if they were to spend their remaining lives with each other just like that, it’d be fine for them. Because that was what living was, anyway.

 


	20. Just A Wish [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was showered with luxurious celebration throughout three years of his birthday but he never felt any of those glories – until when he turned four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Kindergarten AU

Every year on his birthday, he’d be showered with wishes after wishes, his birthday celebration a riot of colour, everyone wore glazing features on their faces – of joy, of exhilaration, of pride. There were foods – lots of them. Fancy dining that was a tad more luxurious than his usual eat-in, piles of dishes that he knew most of them would end up in the trash bin, or in the lawn where stray animals wandered. His parents told him that it was a time of celebration – a time when everyone was grateful for his birth and his wellbeing.

But ironically, Noiz, being the main character of the scene, had never been able to relate to any of these excitement.

He was born, sure. He was grateful to be alive, definitely.

But he didn’t feel at all accomplished to be celebrated in such an extravagant way – and there was this weird sense of emptiness within him that he couldn’t pinpoint very well.

– until when he turned four.

He went to school like any other person. He’d never been a school person anyway. He was sure that he could’ve done better if he was to study at home, where solitude and freedom were given to him. He never knew how to interact with people around him, let alone making friends. He always found himself spending time alone in one corner, on his own desk, only looking up when that _one_ child invaded his gaze, where he found every other thoughts in his mind disappearing into thin air and found himself staring intensely at the other person.

_Aoba_ was the only name he remembered in the school. He found him crying under a tree one day, alone, and letting his legs bring him to the sobbing child, just to realize that he was crying at a tiny bird who’d just dropped off the tree from its nest.

He was curious, intrigued even. Why would someone cry for an animal? he wondered. Aoba was sobbing so hard that he didn’t notice Noiz’s presence, until when Noiz paced closer, his shadow clouding Aoba’s vision that he looked up at him with puffy, red eyes.

“I-it… fell…” Aoba said between sobs. “I saw it… I… don’t know what to do…”

Noiz looked at the bird; it flapped its wings weakly, hoarse, strangled voice forcing its way out its throat and it was clearly struggling, for it losing its only home.

But it wasn’t the bird that had evoked Noiz’s next action – one that he had no idea for. He squatted, reached a hand towards the bird, and scooped it, carefully yet slowly into his palm.

“W-what are you doing…?” Aoba said through muffled voice.

“Bring it back,” Noiz said dismissively. This might be the first time he spoke to someone from school.

“How?” Aoba asked again. He was no longer crying, but his face was a mess of tears and all of a sudden, Noiz felt this overwhelming urge to prove himself – to pull a smile back onto Aoba’s face like how he remembered him to be.

“I’ll climb the tree.” He didn’t even know if he was capable of doing so. But before Aoba could say anything, he started climbing, the tiny bird still cradled warily in his palm.

Aoba held his breath the entire time he witnessed him do that. He watched as Noiz reached the branch where the nest laid, watched as he placed the bird back into the nest, and only clapped and smiled when Noiz looked at him from above.

“You did it!” he cheered. He was wearing this blazing smile on his face that had Noiz pulling one on his own instinctively.

“Come down,” Aoba waved a hand.

Noiz would love to – if only he knew how.

“What’s the matter?” Aoba asked, recognizing how something might have gone wrong.

“I…” Noiz started. It’s too lame to tell Aoba the truth. “I… will stay here for a while,” he said instead.

“Could it be that… you cannot come down?” Aoba brightened his eyes, gaping.

Noiz felt heat rise to the tips of his ears. Swallowing down his throat, he looked away, refused to look Aoba in the eyes.

“I’ll come get you!” Aoba said. He heard him climbing, heard him reaching towards him but when they both were on the branch, hugging it for dear life, it was then that they noticed that none of them knew how to get down.

“Are we going to die here… Will no one come for us…” Aoba started sobbing again. Seeing that, he leaned in, licking the tears off his face.

“Someone will come,” he said.

And so they waited.

Evening came and passed.

It was nightfall when their parents came with torchlights in their hands, causing Aoba to break into a loud cry while Noiz stared, unsure of what he should do.

He wondered if Aoba knew it was his birthday today. He walked into the class, walked right to his desk and sat. Nothing was out of the ordinary today; no one seemed to notice that he’d be growing a year older today.

He looked down, unsure of what he was feeling. He wasn’t expecting anything, he’d never spoken to anyone in this place anyway; he shouldn’t be expecting anything.

But at the very least… he was… perhaps, expecting _him_ to notice…

While he wallowed in his own thoughts, the class fell silent all of a sudden. And when he looked up, everyone was staring at him, big grins on their faces.

Then, they started singing birthday song, clapping while they did.

He was in a complete loss of what was happening. Was everyone singing for him? He didn’t know how to react.

His teacher – a young, mid-aged lady – stood in front of the class, clapping and grinning like everyone else while she waved her hand at Noiz.

Was he supposed to head over?

In front of so many people?

He sat frozen in his seat, expression blank, heartbeats thumping loudly in his ears.

Until when he felt a nudge on his elbow that he turned, just to see Aoba smiling brightly by his side.

“Happy birthday!” he grinned. “C’mon, let’s go there!” he ended pointing to the front.

He didn’t know what to do. Simply allowing Aoba to drag him up, he followed, then stood in front of the class. Everyone was smiling at him, clapping for him. There was a small cake on the podium, someone was throwing confetti at him.

He didn’t know what he should do. He felt so awkward.

But he grasped onto Aoba when Aoba was about to leave his side, his head down, his eyes staring at the ground.

“What’s wrong, Noiz?” Aoba asked. He wasn’t smiling all too bright anymore, seemingly concerned. But then Noiz looked up at him, smiling, and said –

“Thank you.”

He didn’t know what made him do it but before he knew it, he was leaning towards Aoba, kissing him on the cheek, feeling Aoba freeze in his motion and feeling many pairs of intense eyes on him.

He didn’t need much for his birthday – no celebration, no presents.

He only needed Aoba’s ‘Happy birthday!’.

And to him, that’s the biggest gift he could ever asked for; something for him to feel grateful for being born.


	21. Nude [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Person A is an art student and Person B is the nude model for their class project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Nude Model AU

He tried really hard not to stare. He really did. He was nothing, really. Just another model and if he was serious about his career, he shouldn’t have minded so much about… this nude model.

In this very course he was in, everyone was assigned a model of their own – one that was from the modeling course, alongside another art student that was from the art class. He’d known about it on his orientation day, that he’d have his own partner to work with and that it’d be a great chance for him to adapt to industry needs, getting the training he needed and be all prepared when he as to step into the working world.

He really shouldn’t be staring so much. Gulping down his throat, he tried to focus on his anatomy, giving his model occasional glances while his partner displayed nothing more than a dismissive gaze. He didn’t seem at all interested, and Aoba wasn’t even sure if he was even interested in his own course to have him portray such disinterest.

“Hey.”

He almost jumped at the sudden break of silence.

“Can you really see from that distance?”

This was perhaps the first time his partner - Noiz - spoke to him.

He looked away, nodding; an answer that he knew wasn’t true.

He heard a click of tongue, and before he could even register what was happening, Noiz had walked towards hmm, dragging the stool along with him and sat right in front of him, their distance a mere inches apart.

“Better?”

He tried not to stare, he really did. And he knew that he was supposed to stare. But the moment he did that, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Noiz’s refined muscles, his well-built torso, and that… nape piercing that had been doing nothing but distracting him for the longest time ever since he’d seen Noiz naked body.


	22. Just A Bit [Koujaku x Noiz]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That child doesn’t give him a good vibe, but there’s just something about him that had drawn Koujaku to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Child AU

There was an annoying kid from the huge mansion down the street where they lived that had been haunting in his thoughts for a long while now. It was all thanks to how close he was with Aoba that had Koujaku twitching an aggravated eyebrow whenever he caught them spending too much time together. Aoba was his responsibility, and he didn’t even want to consider what type of face Tae would make if he was to find Aoba being harmed in any possible way. It was that edginess of his that had given birth to the paranoia of him investigating into every other person Aoba was to interact with – just to realize that he’d come close with this blond-haired boy who seemed way too young to be bearing such a sour-looking expression on his face all the time whenever Koujaku caught sight of him.

He would walk pass his house every day, without fail, and when he met eyes with Koujaku he’d give him a stare so deadpan it offended Koujaku. He was always around for Aoba, but whenever Koujaku was to make an appearance he’d find himself staring – _glaring_ , sometimes – at him instead, for reasons unknown. He’d never asked the name of the boy by himself but he’d heard Aoba call him ‘Noiz’ for a couple of times and hence decided that that should be how he would refer him from then on. It could be just a nickname, but it was still better than not knowing anything about the boy.

It was one fine afternoon that he found the boy sitting on a swing in a playground near where his and Aoba’s house was, all alone, staring at the ground as if he was looking for something. He hesitated, was about to turn away, thinking that it was not his place to be meddling with someone else’s business when he halted, looked over his shoulder again just to see Noiz _still_ staring at the ground, with no knowledge of him being in his close presence at all.

Letting out a sigh, he allowed his natural concern to take over him, strode right towards where Noiz was sitting and squatted right in front of him.

“Hey,” he called out. Noiz looked up, visibly surprised at the uninvited guest but the impassiveness was quickly returned to his face as he frowned at Koujaku.

“What are you doing here?” Koujaku asked. This could be his first time talking to Noiz. It’s Aoba who had been speaking to him all this while anyway, despite both of them knowing each other perfectly well.

Noiz, however, looked away, pretending as if he never heard Koujaku’s question. Finding it hard to communicate, Koujaku shifted his gaze away from his face instead, dropping his attention where he was seated, just to find his own eyes widened in surprise when he noticed the patch of oozing blood on one of Noiz’s kneecap.

“Oi, you’re hurt,” he said, pointing at the wound. “Did you get into a fight with someone?”

Noiz remained silent, refusing to interact. Clicking his tongue, Koujaku searched around in his coat pocket, hummed happily when he found what he was looking for and lifted Noiz’s leg up, catching the other off guard.

“What are you doing?” Noiz growled. His voice was startlingly deeper – just a bit – than how Koujaku had expected it to be but he decided to ignore him, focusing on the wound as he gently yet carefully pressed the piece of clean white handkerchief against his skin.

“It might hurt, but you can endure it, right?” he said without looking up. But Noiz didn’t mutter another word, let alone flinching. It amazed Koujaku. He remembered doing this for Aoba and it was a distressing experience of its own, having to witness how Aoba had screamed and cried during the entire process where he cleaned his wound for him. Noiz, though, was the entire opposite. He kept to himself, portraying no sign of being in pain at all while he observed every one of Koujaku’s action. When Koujaku was finally done with his scar treatment, wrapping the handkerchief around his knee and tying it with a firm knot, all Noiz did was stare, like he usually did.

“Didn’t you feel painful?” Koujaku asked out of curiosity. He didn’t seem to realize that he was even hurt and it was shocking Koujaku. This behaviour of unusual and Koujaku wasn’t even sure if he wanted to probe on it.

But in the next second, Noiz was looking away again, hands grasping on the seat as he pouted. It was when Koujaku wrapped him in a hug that he hitched a breath, taken completely by shock.

“Well, I heard that a hug could comfort a child better than anything else,” Koujaku said by his ear, warm and soothing. “Thought you would need this.”

Communication breakdown was a regular between them. So when Koujaku gave him a comforting gesture that wasn’t words, all Noiz could do was accept it, wondering if he could ask Koujaku for something like this if his parents were to call him a ‘bad child’ in the future again.


	23. one minute [Koujaku x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it’s the smallest moments that make the biggest impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on Mage's yokai AU~

He still remembered the first time he’d met him – under the _Kusunoki_ tree, alone. All by himself. He remembered seeing him and thinking to himself, about how all the evilness deemed upon him was none of his fault but of the curse of his tattoos, of something he never asked for. He never knew how it’d feel being forced into a situation where one could no longer have full control of one’s body and mind. But the mere imagination pushed him into a sort of demise as he imagined how it’d feel for _him_ to be unable to own his own body, and all sorts of things that he would’ve done if he wasn’t able to make sense of himself.

Koujaku must have felt the same as well. When he was misunderstood for all the acts that he never wanted for himself, he must’ve felt betrayed, that perhaps living was no longer a priority but a mere option.

He wondered how much of an impact he’d made towards him when he appeared, took the seals off him, and changed his life just as easily as he never imagined it to be.

As he stared at the sleeping face of the beautiful man by his side, he found himself wondering about all the things he never knew about Koujaku – how did he live his life as a sealed _yokai_ for years? How did he feel then? How did he feel _now_ , when he was back to normalcy and bearing features and strength that many could only dream of?

How did he feel about his past? All the wounds? The blood spilled, and the many screams and horrifying faces he must have witnessed when he wasn’t himself?

How did he feel when he was discriminated?

He never brought himself to ask Koujaku; he wasn’t sure if Koujaku ever remembered it himself. He’d told him to leave his past behind, to move forward – _with him_ – and he deemed these curiosities a league he should no longer be stepping into.

But he couldn’t help it.

He _loved_ Koujaku. And he wanted to know about him – as much as he could.

Even things that bothered him, that might be sinful to him, that might be the worst memories he ever had – he wanted to know _everything_ about him.

He stroked a finger against Koujaku’s cheekbone, as slowly and as softly as he could. He felt the soft sensation of his hair against his skin, causing him to curve an instinctive smile as he traced featherlight trails along his face. He stopped at his bangs, hesitated just for a mere second before he swiped it gently aside, revealing the tattoos on Koujaku’s face.

Was it sinful of him to think of these tattoos – this _curse_ – as something beautiful? He’d had the same thought when he first met him. But his impression remained the same.

Koujaku was _beautiful_ , even with all the scars on his body, even with all the tattoos that were forcefully implanted on him. He loved them, he loved Koujaku, and before he knew it, he was leaning towards him, kissing him softly on the very tattoo and was two seconds too late when Koujaku’s eyelashes fluttered, his eyes opened and met with Aoba’s very own astounded gaze.

“Morning,” he mumbled.

Aoba sprung backwards, but not fast enough for Koujaku to stretch a hand and pulled him back, causing him to fall directly into his embrace.

“Trying to run after sneaking a kiss on me?” Koujaku grinned. “Didn’t know you could be so naughty, _Aoba-sama_.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Aoba pouted. Koujaku’s grasp was strong. They were the very arms that had locked him in his embrace, and also the very same arms that could always make him feel safe, even though, technically, _he_ was the one who’d saved him in the first place.

Koujaku nudged his nose against Aoba’s head then, waiting for him to settle down. Watery daylight gradually pushing back the darkened edges of dawn. Warm sun rays poured steadily through the blinds, warming them from the inside out. It was about time for them to wake up. And it was about time for Koujaku to leave the place before he was caught spending a night in this very satiric place.

“I need to go,” he said, eyes stuck at the brightening sky, hands still wrapped around Aoba’s body. Aoba said nothing. He’d returned Koujaku’s hug, face pressed against his exposed chest as he kept his eyes low, no longer locking gaze with Koujaku.

“Aoba?”

He wondered how long more did they need to keep this very relationship they shared a secret. And he wondered if Koujaku was fine with it, if _he_ was fine with it. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt the imbalance resurfacing within him. He didn’t know how to face Koujaku now. He wasn’t great with mornings, and this morning especially had him drowning in immense emotions thanks to his overthinking capability.

He didn’t want Koujaku to go; but that was a selfish request, and an immature wish.

_One more minute_ , he thought to himself, hands tightening around Koujaku’s waist. _One more minute and I’ll be fine_.

He felt a light caress on the strands of his short hair. He heard a small hum from above him that was Koujaku’s dainty sigh. And when he looked up, Koujaku was smiling at him, his beam as warm as the morning light.

Was it sinful for him to think about how _beautiful_ Koujaku was at this very moment? Was it sinful for him to fall in love?

Was it sinful for him to _want_ to be with this very man even since the very beginning?

Even when he knew he was a _yokai_ and that his mere responsibility was simply to purify him?

Would there be a future for the both of them?

Koujaku obviously noticed the qualms on his face because in the next second, he was ruffling Aoba aggressively on the hair, messing his hair more than it already was and causing Aoba to push him away, frowning and growling.

“What are you doing?!”

“You look so miserable I can’t help it,” Koujaku laughed. It’s the same laugh again – it’s the same expression he’d always give Aoba when he _knew_ exactly what Aoba was feeling, _knew_ that he was feeling the same, but yet _still_ putting cheering Aoba up as a higher priority.

“I’m fine now,” Aoba looked away, crossing his arms. “Besides, don’t you need to go? Go on.”

Koujaku crept towards him, hugging him from the back before he nuzzled his cheek against Aoba’s.

“One more minute,” he muttered. “Let me stay here for one more minute.”

Maybe ‘one more minute’ was never intended to be just ‘one more minute’. Maybe it was meant to be ‘a lifetime’, or ‘forever’, or ‘for as long as they could’.

Because the red string of fate had decided their bond for them anyway – from the moment they met, they’d know that they were never destined to be just ‘one more minute’, and regardless how long they were to be separated – months, years – they’d always return to each other, just for that ‘one more minute’ that’s worth more than they could ever spell it.


	24. Redemption [Koujaku x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes being loyal is more than just being by one’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Samurai AU

His impression of Koujaku had always been someone of a hero – of someone he wanted to be. Being someone he looked up to, Aoba had often sneaked out of his house whenever he’d gotten the chance, just so he could catch a glimpse of Koujaku’s morning training right outside of his house. He’d known Koujaku ever since he was a kid; Koujaku had been exceptionally kind to him at all times, even though his sword style was one of fluid and merciless, the swings of it precise and spoke of nothing but a weapon for fights. The reason behind his training often sent Aoba into sleepless nights, thoughts filled with nothing but how Koujaku would put his skills to use, and for whatever reason there was.

Despite so, he also knew that his impression towards Koujaku would always be that kind big brother he’d come to adore. Nothing would ever change between them.

Nothing.

* * *

It had been ten whole years since he last saw Koujaku. The last he’d known about his whereabouts was the fact that he was stranded somewhere in mainland, for whatever reasons it was, and that there was no certain date for his return. Aoba had told him that he should do whatever he felt was right then, despite the loneliness budding within him when Koujaku broke the news to him an emotion too apparent to dismiss. As soon as Koujaku’s presence was taken away from his life, he found himself spending a lot more time practicing and discovering his own sword style. He couldn’t quite make out why he was so persistent with it but across time, it came to him that probably being close to a sword style, or just being close to swords in general reminded him of Koujaku, making him feel as if he was closer to Koujaku the more he discovered about himself. He knew it was a lie he’d told himself but it was undeniably his main support and it was the only thing that’d keep him sane at most times.

The era wasn’t any kinder to him either. Wars erupted everywhere; broken building scattered around the place. It had been a sight that everyone on the island had gotten used to.

But as years passed, whenever Aoba was to catch sight of yet another war zone, he finally understood why Koujaku had to leave his home.

That was because Koujaku was a soldier, he was a samurai; and a samurai must serve his country - it was in their blood, and their blood must not be betrayed.

* * *

The familiar yet unfamiliar feeling within him when he reunited with Koujaku was something he hadn’t been expecting. Koujaku was back, sure. But he was covered in scars from head to toe, a sight that Aoba never wanted to see. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t thought about how unavoidable this situation would be seeing how Koujaku was a warrior; and a warrior was bound to have scars on him, like it or not.

It wasn’t for him to decide if Koujaku deserved the scars either. Koujaku had sworn loyalty to the country after all, and all Aoba could do was to support him in any way possible, as much as he could.

As he paced closer towards Koujaku, his steps staggered. He wanted to say something, at least something decent to respond to the warm smile Koujaku was giving him now. But all he could do was stare, the light in his eyes wavered ever so slightly. He only stopped when he came face-to-face with Koujaku, who was still smiling at him before he patted him on the head.

“Hey, you’ve grown.”

Aoba could feel the sores in his throat. He swallowed, intending to contain himself. But the gentle light in Koujaku’s eyes reminded him of how much he’d missed Koujaku, of how much he’d yearned to see him again, of how much he’d worried about him all over again and before he knew it, he was launching forward, embracing Koujaku into a firm hug as he buried his head against Koujaku’s chest. He didn’t want Koujaku to see him crying after not seeing him for so long. But as Koujaku returned his hug, and as he heard Koujaku’s increased heartbeats beneath his chest, he knew that Koujaku was possibly feeling the same as well. 

That Koujaku was also yearning to see him again, that he was also worried about him and that he was also missing him as much as Aoba did.

He was still the strong Big Brother Aoba had always known - his gaze and his smile had told him so. His warmth nostalgic, his voice deeper but yet still so very much Koujaku.

It didn’t matter how many scars he was to brace on his body now. What mattered the most to Aoba was that Koujaku was now back in one piece, safe in his arms. He wanted to hug him just like that; he never wanted to let him go. He wanted Koujaku to promise him that he’d stay with him here, just like this, and that he didn’t even mind if Koujaku was to throw away his samurai title and stay here, in this small town, together with Aoba, with a peaceful life, without the need to worry about having to fight in wars and losing each other at the same time.

He wanted to tell Koujaku that he didn’t owe his country anything, nor did he owe Aoba anything.

He wanted to tell Koujaku all that. 

But he couldn’t.

Because betraying his title meant betraying his blood. Koujaku would never do that. And because of this fate that was forced upon him, he’d have to shoulder the weight of the world by himself–

–something, and also the only thing Aoba could never allow. Containing his sorrow, he started,

“The next time you go to war, I’ll follow you.”

Koujaku was surprised, but he smiled at him nonetheless. He didn’t respond to Aoba; but Aoba had figured out his resolution anyway. There was no way Koujaku could stop him no matter how hard he was to try.

Maybe this time, Koujaku was back for only one reason - and that reason being to pick Aoba up as his most trusted partner for war.

So that both of them would no longer be alone ever again.


	25. Shortlived [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of all the things he never knew about Seragaki Aoba, he definitely would never thought that that would be one of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Zombie AU

There’s just… _something_ in those eyes. It’s the way they glowed whenever he looked at him, complemented by a smile so blazingly beautiful that had Noiz take a step back, clear his mind, before he returned to the matters in hands.

It’s _something_ that he couldn’t pinpoint very well – that _something_ in him that was pulling him towards him, distracting his coherent thoughts, then causing him to lose his flow of thoughts every now and then.

They weren’t close. Not yet, he’d like to believe. And based solely on how he was so fascinated by every single gesture his father’s secretary – the simple tug of hair behind his ear, the courteous smile he’d always pull on his face when someone did as much as calling his name, and the small pout he’d wear when he scanned through documents, seemingly reading up statistics that had put up a complicated thinking cap for him – he was pretty much certain that he was not just _any_ person that’d intruded his life with no warning whatsoever. 

Seragaki Aoba was employed just two months back. As his father’s secretary, their interaction was minimal – merely daily greeting and handover of documents – but that was perhaps what _exactly_ that had captivated Noiz. He didn’t look too spectacular; the only thing that Noiz could label it as ‘weird’ being him being a foreigner but above all, he looked as normal as any other worker around him..

…besides the fact that he wore one of the most blazing smiles and the fact that he’d been working so hard on his own accord and how he had been unconsciously portraying traits that was more than anything he’d come to portray… well, that’s about it.

He couldn’t quite understand it himself when he was hit by this abrupt fascination across the days he’d been seeing him consistently passing by his desk and following his father to meetings. And it was one day when Seragaki Aoba had walked towards him, passing him what seemed to be a very challenging project, _then_ throwing a ‘Good luck’ whisper at his direction before his strode off that Noiz finally understood what this was all about.

He was _crushing_ on Seragaki Aoba – on a person he knew _nothing_ of besides his surface portrayal.

But Seragaki Aoba was somewhat like a floating existence to him. His routine unchanged, his route the same. And before Noiz could come to realize, he had all his movements, all his behaviour memorized, to the extent that he’d feel uncomfortable if Aoba didn’t come in sharp on the time when he was supposed to pass by his office, just to realize that he had accompanied his father to another meeting.

There was no way for him to figure out this abrupt adoration by himself. And there was no way he could let it slip, waiting for it to fade before he could figure out the answer himself. So at long last, he decided that it’s time for him to make a move – one that had Seragaki Aoba perking an eyebrow at him when he received a notice asking him to see him in his room.

“Is there anything you need help with?” was Seragaki Aoba’s first words. They’d never spoken to each other before, let alone conversing in such intimacy. There was absolutely no need for him to deal with his father’s secretary, after all.

It’s not surprising how surprised Seragaki Aoba looked like now.

“Do you have some time during lunch?” he asked, tone dismissive, trying not to sound too amused at the way Seragaki Aoba dropped his jaw at the question.

“You mean… you have something you need me to do for you?” Seragaki Aoba asked, still sounding wary.

“Yeah, I do,” Noiz responded, cold as ever.

He could see the way Seragaki Aoba swallowed down his throat, the way he looked away just for mere seconds before the light returned to his eyes.

“And may I ask what is this work you want me to do?”

Noiz leaned back against his chair, fingers twiddling as he considered. He was _definitely_ amused, yet it wasn’t his intention to intimate Seragaki Aoba like this. It was hard for him to find the right words when it came to him, especially when he literally knew _nothing_ of him.

“We’ll talk during lunch,” he said simply. And with a wave of hand, Seragaki Aoba bowed, leaving the room with what seemed like a confused expression before a smirk curved at the corners of Noiz’s lips.

He’s more interesting than he thought he’d be. Regardless of how hard he was trying to obscure how he truly feel, everything was exposed on his face.

_Everything_.

At 12:00PM sharp, Noiz left his room, pulling his coat in a hasty motion and walked towards his father’s room, stopping right before his door to catch Seragaki Aoba pulling his hair up into a high ponytail, then wrapping a light-blue scarf around his neck. He seemed to be heading somewhere, stopping his motions only when Noiz was within his line of vision.

“Ah,” he released a small voice, one that Noiz had managed to capture.

“Going somewhere?” Noiz asked. The loud ‘or _running_ somewhere?’ voice in his head drew a thin frown in between his eyebrows.

“Aren’t we going out?” Aoba responded almost immediately. He pouted, turning away just before Noiz could miss it, and walked out of his working space. “Lunch?”

Noiz smirked. “Sure.”

The walk out of the office building, along the freezing winter pavement, was a silent one. They never knew each other, let alone walking together like this. It’s no surprise there’s no words exchange between them. Aoba probably saw Noiz as nothing but the Director’s son, and it was normal; it was _perfectly normal_ for him to regard him as nothing more than that.

…nothing more than that?

Noiz halted his steps, clearly troubled at his own thought process. He was getting carried away. What else would that be? They were simply colleagues, that was all.

But why… did he have feel this tight feeling from beneath his chest? This suffocating pressure that was threatening to explode from within…?

Aoba had stopped walking then. Turning around, he stared, confused.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, a question Noiz had no answer to.

“Nothing,” he said at long last, taking a deep breath before they started walking again.

They walked through a few streets with Noiz taking the lead, then stopping at what seemed to be a small café in an alley that was less busy than the ones they’d just passed through. They entered the shop in silence, heard the loud ringing of bell from above them, then settled into a table by the window.

“Is everything okay?” Aoba asked, a face of concern.

Noiz nodded. He turned his attention to the menu, mumbled a few words to a perky waitress, and waited for Aoba to place his order before he cleared his throat.

“Are you fine with this place?”

“Hm? Oh, sure. Of course,” Aoba replied awkwardly. He’d probably say that he’s alright with it even if he’s not; it was what Noiz’s hunch had told him.

“Okay, so…”

He tilted his head upon hearing Aoba’s voice, eyes boring into the others, the gleam of them exchanging heat. They both knew that none of them were as clean-cut as everyone else always thought of them. Noiz, especially, always knew that Aoba was never just another normal white-collar working adult. He had this language in his eyes that he couldn’t decipher, and this vague, suppressed intensity in his voice when he spoke had told Noiz enough that whatever he’d always said had never gone unfiltered.

“What’s this… work you want me to do?”

He’d totally forgotten about that. But there was no point trying to hide anything now. Seragaki Aoba would definitely see through him – or perhaps he already did.

“The only ‘work’ you need to do for me now is to have lunch with me,” he said, frank, the tone he used obscured nothing fake.

All Seragaki Aoba did was giving him an upfront, flaring stare; it was a stare that spelt of annoyance, of disappointment, but it lacked the anger vibe that Noiz had been expecting from him when he was to spill the beans.

“You sure have lots of time in your hands, Mr.President Jr.” Aoba slanted backwards, arms crossed, eyes closed.

“Indeed,” Noiz admitted. Enough time for him to observe every action of Seragaki Aoba, enough time to contemplate what exactly was wrong with him.

“What’s the fun with having lunch with me, I wonder?” All Aoba said sounded of nothing but thick sarcasm. It drew a chortle out of Noiz.

Interesting. Seragaki Aoba is interesting. The more he poked on him, the more he tried different ways of communicating, the more varieties of expressions Aoba would show him.

He wouldn’t be able to get enough of him at this rate.

“ _You_ are interesting,” Noiz said. He should’ve worded it better, he thought. But Aoba was staring wide-eyed at him and it wiped that thought away, thinking that he’d said the right thing after all.

“Unlike someone, I have a lot in my hands, you know…” Aoba sighed. He drank a mouthful of the coffee he’d ordered himself, then shifting his eyes to look out of the window, staring at things Noiz had zero interest in.

“Is being a secretary for my father tough?” Noiz asked.

“Huh? Not really…” Aoba trailed off, seemingly distracted.

“You’re always busy,” Noiz continued, sipping on his own coffee.

“I guess so…” Aoba said, eyes still fixed on the scene outside. The longer he did that, the more intrigued Noiz felt. He joined Aoba to look out of the window, trying to grasp what had captured his attention.

It was a family of three – the parents were sitting on a bench under the tree, their daughter running around in circles, as if chasing after something they couldn’t see.

They looked so happy, so peaceful, as if nothing in the world would ever concern them.

“If I request to switch you over as _my_ secretary, would you accept it?” Noiz asked, surprised at the abrupt decision that’d just slipped out of his mouth.

“I mig—wait, what?” Aoba snapped his attention back to him, whatever Noiz had said finally making sense in his head.

“I said, if I want you to be _my_ secretary, would you accept it?”

“W-what… wait,” Aoba stared, completely shocked, at Noiz.

“You don’t want?” Noiz asked, sounding as if nothing of this conversation was of his concern.

“No, no, I mean, wait, just wait a minute,” Aoba shook his hands in front of his face vigorously. “What’s with this sudden question? You don’t need a secretary.”

“How would you know?” Noiz asked, his grin deepened.

“I mean…”

“Have you been observing me too?”

“I…” Aoba stuttered, the gesture itself had given Noiz the answer he wanted.

“I see,” Noiz said. He took a minute of silence between them, sipping slowly on his coffee, and when he put his cup back to the saucer, Aoba had already calmed down, even though the wavers were still prominent in his eyes.

“You can do everything by yourself,” he explained. “You’re fast, intelligent, you don’t need anyone to help you.”

Noiz perked an interested eyebrow. So he _did_ observed him all this while, after all.

“And what makes you think that way? What conclusion have you come to simply just by observing me?”

It was an ironic question – a question he’d like to throw at himself.

…which Aoba did.

“And what conclusion have _you_ come to just by observing _me_?”

The tension between them was more intense than any of them had ever expected. The silence was deafening, he felt as if he could hear Aoba’s pulse just by staring into his eyes.

“For all I know…” Aoba said slowly. He stood up, with Noiz’s gaze following him all the while, until when he pushed the window open, sinking his hand into his pants pocket, that Noiz had not been able to tear his eyes away from him.

The next thing he did proved everything Noiz had speculated right.

Of how he was more than just his father’s secretary, of how he was more than just another _normal_ human being.

“I could be _nothing_ of what you thought I am.”

The last words of Aoba’s rang stridently in his mind. He could still hear the echoes of it when Aoba dashed out of the shop through the window, the sound of loud gunshots split the sky into two. And even when he stared at how Aoba stood calmly in the pool of blood, of three corpses that looked like they belonged to nothing but humans, he lifted a smirk, pulling a similar weapon from what Aoba was using from his pants pocket, and sped his way out of the shop through the window as well, the same way as how Aoba did it.

He was right after all – Aoba was _never_ normal.

Because he, like himself, was also a monster. And that was he came to be so attracted to his own kind.


	26. Entranced [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He only wanted a peaceful night out, but this might just be the very last night he ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Demon AU

The bar was convulsed in waves of conversation exchanged in loud voices, all of them competing to overcome the strident beats of music that dominated the murky, dimmed atmosphere. The dance floor was barely visible, all that was palpable to the naked eyes was wall to wall people dancing to the rock music. Aoba sipped on his third dose of liquor for the night, eyes flashing past the crashing of meat, of blazing colourful lights illuminating different angles of the human flesh, of ecstatic written all over their faces. His head was throbbing with the beats, his gaze wavering, the alcohol impact totally getting to him. He’d told himself that two dose was all that he’d take. He wasn’t here to waste himself after all, it was just a simple break, a simple take of breath to pull him off his hectic routine.

But before he knew it, a third dose was pushed under his nose, and, being totally distracted by the wave of illusion washing all over him, he’d gone over his limit, completely pushing him into a pit of drunken fantasy.

His conscious slowly slipping out of him, he glanced around blindly, finding for some sort of distraction – something that could thrust the sanity back into him.

In the midst of blurriness was nothing but darkness. It was a scene he regretted very much, a situation that he didn’t want to be in – because he knew it’d lead to more regretful occasion and that was what he’d like to avoid the most.

This wasn’t why he was here.

His eyes wandered, his hope pulled out of him with every passing second. He hiccuped, pressing his lips with the back of his hands, closing his eyes just in time to feel movement by his side.

This isn’t the time to be hooking up with someone else, was his instant though. And he was about to stand or push the person away when his eyes met the other man, who’d just sat right by his side.

He had no intention to stand, nor he had the intention to push the man away. It was the first time in the night where he locked gaze with colour so outstanding that he had to take a step back to regain his composure.

“Alone?” the man asked. His voice was low but truncated, his word short but straight to the point. He was sipping his own dose of liquor, his eyes no longer looking at Aoba.

Aoba nodded. “And you?”

The man placed his glass on the table, inching closer towards Aoba, the heat vibrating from his body smearing all over Aoba’s own skin.

“Alone,” the man repeated. He casted a downward glance at Aoba, seemingly scrutinizing him then lifted a small smirk on the corners of his lips.

“Not leaving soon, are we?” the man said. Usually, Aoba would’ve denied any further interaction with any stranger he was to meet in the bar. But now, he found himself transfixed with every single one of the man’s body language – the rise and fall of his chest, the sheen of sweat gleaming under the weak light source of the space, and the penetrating gaze he was giving Aoba now, as if he was analyzing him from the inside out.

“No,” Aoba said. “But i’m not drinking anymore.”

“Sure,” the man responded. “Not planning to drink anyway.”

What business does this man have with him anyway? Aoba wondered. He wouldn’t deem himself as exceptionally attractive to have attracted such a striking existence. Could it be that this man was hitting on him? Him, of all people here?

“Noiz,” the man said after a long silence, and Aoba had to take a while to register what he’d just said.

“That’s your name?” he asked, just to make sure.

Noiz nodded. “And you?”

“…Aoba.”

Should he even tell this stranger his name, though? For all he told, this ‘Noiz’ name could be just a nickname.

“Aoba…” Noiz repeated the name on his tongue, as if he was tasting it, memorizing it.

“So what do you want to do?” Aoba asked, hitting right to the point. No way this stranger was simply sitting here to have a quick chat. He knew nothing about him, and there’s absolutely nothing about Aoba that could attract anyone at all anyway. He was wearing a simple T-shirt, nothing revealing, with a jacket covering most of his visible skin. He looked like the most normal people in the place.

“Nothing much,” Noiz said, an answer Aoba didn’t quite believe.

“Are you a student?” Aoba pestered, seeking to pull something else but dismissiveness from the other man.

Noiz hummed. “What do you think?”

Was it his imagination? Or was Noiz’s gaze seemed… out of place? Not in a bad manner, of course. Rather, his stare looked like it was piercing Aoba from the inside, looking right through him, and for a moment, he thought he was hypnotizing him, pulling him into the lime-green glance.

“I…” he stuttered, starting to feel the uneasiness rouse from within him.

“Hmm?” Noiz hummed again, this time, inching closer, pulling their distance in such an intimate way that they were only mere inches apart.

“I…” Aoba trailed. What was he about to say again? Denying him? Agreeing with him? Or something else? His thoughts seemed to have lost their track halfway through the conversation and all that he could see was Noiz’s eyes, inching closer and closer towards him, his body slanting towards him as they came to such a close distance that he could feel Noiz’s breath on his cheek.

He hitched a breath when he felt a damp sensation against his face, eyes wide upon realizing that Noiz had just licked him while he spaced out, totally throwing him into a sense of shock.

“You are definitely not a student,” Noiz breathed against his cheek, and Aoba felt cold traveling down his spine when he felt a soft sensation against his skin where Noiz had just licked this time.

This was what he thought it was. But he wasn’t about to stop Noiz. He was letting it happen. He was yearning for it to happen.

Noiz was seducing him, for whatever reason. Maybe he was bored with everything else here, maybe he simply wanted a change to taste. Because he would never believe that a guy as charming and as suggestive as Noiz would fail finding a target he’d dig.

He felt an arm circling around his waist, feeling his body losing its weight as he was hauled towards Noiz’s direction, their breath mingling with tips of their noses touching, and their chests pressed against each other, heartbeats resounding loud in their ears.

All of a sudden, the surrounding sound muted, as if he was dragged into a whole new dimension – a world he never knew. His breath trapped in his chest, he closed his eyes, the last thing he saw being Noiz leaning towards him, moving the tip of his tongue in such a sensual way from his cheek to the corner of his lips and eventually slipping its way into his mouth.

He accepted everything of it. The clanking sound of metal hitting his teeth aroused him even more. Heat coursed through his body, making him sweat more. He held onto Noiz as their kiss deepened, his head spinning in extreme warmth. He felt a hand no his crotch and released a moan right into Noiz’s mouth, feeling a grin against his lips at the same time.

When was the last time he made out with someone else? And when was the last time a makeout made him feel so extremely good?

He no longer cared, he no longer had the sanity to care. All he cared was how Noiz had sneaked a hand into his pants, holding his rock-hard erection firm in his palm and giving him soft yet impatient pumps that had Aoba’s breath running short.

“Ha…” At long last, they released each other from the breathtaking kiss. It felt so good, so good that Aoba threw all his regrets aside, casting a plea in his eyes that signalled loudly of more, more, and more of the sensations Noiz was giving him.

“Feeling like it?” Noiz smirked. His hand was still on his dick, its motion stopped, and it did nothing but burning Aoba more from the inside.

He wanted to say something but Noiz pressed a finger against his lips, stopping him. Was it his imagination? Was his mind playing tricks at him? Because he swore Noiz’s eyes were a lot more brighter than before, sharper even.

“Are you sure?” Noiz asked. He wasn’t waiting for Aoba’s answer; something in Aoba had told him so. And true enough, he saw a shadow of something flashing past the corner of his eye, landing around his waist, the tip of it diving right into his pants, where Noiz was holding onto Aoba’s dick.

All of a sudden, everything made sense to him. He was indeed a target, but it was not quite the same type of target he had in his mind before the reality dawned upon him.

It was a situation he never would have thought he would experience it by himself.

Tonight, when all he ever wanted to do was loose his tensed up nerves, in a place where he never thought he’d be noticed.

“I can’t believe you’re just now telling me that you’re a demon. And after we kissed too,” he sighed.

Noiz lifted a higher smirk. “You’d prefer if I tell you later? You would’ve escaped then. I wouldn’t be able to lock you down if I don’t let you feel how good it is to be making love with me.”

Noiz was good. Noiz was perfect. But of course, that’s all because of his nature – he’s a demon after all, and for all Aoba had come to know about the demons lurking around in this town, seduction was definitely one of the biggest traits they shared.

And he wasn’t even sure if he could make it out alive today, even though he’d come to admit that at least he’d know who had killed him if the first and last of his lovemaking was to happen tonight.


	27. Owned [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A secret is hidden in the deepness of the woods – a secret no one would ever want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Warlock AU

The hut sat alone in the deep midst of the forest. It was undisturbed, quiet and still, as if it was unoccupied. The forest played a constant orchestra, weaving symphony of birds chirping and creaking tree leaves. Fragments of beam scattered the soil like jigsaw puzzles, escaping through the gap of leaves hanging above trees. Solitude warped the surrounding, separating it from the world, existing in a world that was built by persons unknown, and was remained unknown unless being seduced into it.

In the midst of the serenity came sounds of creaking branches, accompanied by light hum of a man, slipping his way through thick tree trunks as natural as he could. His hums were casual, carefree and catchy; one could easily tell that this was a voice belonged to a trouble-free man, a man who had most likely separated himself from reality, from everything else that was deemed normal.

But then, the soft hum came to a stop when it neared the hut, followed closely by a click of tongue.

“You again.”

The voice was the same voice that’d broke the serenity of the forest, but lower, filled with annoyance, a complete contrast with what was heard just seconds ago.

The bush near the hut rustled, a man came walking to the clearance. Twigs stuck on his cloak, his boots smeared with dried mud. And as he pulled his hood away, revealing a smirk on his face, a loud sigh resounded.

“I told you, I have nothing to tell you.”

The man with words were one with long, wavy hair of blue. He wore a tall hat, coat that sprinkled of funky colours, and a smile that was no less intimidating than the other man he’d just greeted right in front of his very own house.

“You know I don’t trust you when you said that.”

The other man had a huskier voice, even dismissive sounding. His strawberry blond hair glimmered under the weak beam of sunlight splashing through the trees. And his eyes – his lime-green pair of eyes – gazed fervently into the golden one of the other, as if exchanging nonverbal words that were inaudible by anyone else but themselves.

“Whatever you say.”

Aoba pulled his gaze away, ignoring his guest and paced right to his house, just to find the other man hurrying towards him.

“Excuse me, Mr. Noiz?” he grumbled. “I didn’t say I’m allowing you near my territory.”

“What are you talking about?” the man – Noiz – responded with a smirk. “You never said you’re denying my visit either.”

“More like you’re simply forcing you way in.” Another loud sigh and Aoba waved his hand. “You can try as hard as you want but I have nothing for you, kid. I’m just a lonely person living a lonely life in this lonely forest.”

“I don’t believe you,” Noiz said. He followed Aoba into the house, sitting on the nearest couch he could find and rubbed his nose at the heavy smell of chemical upon entering. “People disappeared in this forest. And you are the only person staying here.”

“So?” Aoba quirked a suspicious eyebrow at him. He set his newly hunted food on the counter, his voice still visible irritating sounding. “What are you implying?”

“What happened to them?” Noiz pestered. “What did you do to them?”

“Heh,” Aoba smirked. He turned around, crossed his arms, and stared at Noiz, grinning as he scrutinized the young man from head to toe. “And what does anything have to do with you? The last I remember, you’re a warlock, not an inspector.”

“Exactly because I’m a _warlock_ that I’m interested.” Noiz stood up, walked towards Aoba and came face-to-face with him. “I know everything about alchemist, about elements, about flows and energy and things no one can see. But you,” he paused, inching his face so close towards Aoba that Aoba could feel his breath against his cheek when he spoke. “You’re _different_. You seemed to have an intense interest in the physical body. Like,” he purposefully dragged his words, sneaking his hand up to grip Aoba lightly on the wrist. “Limbs, flesh, and of course,” Aoba frowned at the warmth he felt on his face that was Noiz’s fingers. “A person’s face.”

A five-seconds long pause spread between them, their gaze locked on each other the entire time. Then, without warning, Aoba started laughing, his voice echoed loudly around the space, the colour of his eyes brighter, the dark shadows under his eyes all the more prominent when he became expressive like this.

“I’d like to see you catch me, young man,” he said after a good loud laugh. “I don’t love everything you said, and it makes me baffle seeing how you are trying to point out everything about me as if you know me at all.”

“Don’t deny it,” Noiz frowned, obviously taken aback by Aoba’s abrupt change of attitude. “I’ve seen all those things you read – amputation, surgery, beautification – none of those are _normal_.”

“So what do you think is normal then, genius?” Aoba licked his lower lip, his interest surging from the inside. “Ah, I know,” he interrupted, without waiting for Noiz’s answer. “The fact that you aren’t able to feel anything is normal? The fact that you are so immersed in this magical world of yours, summoning spells after spells, creating everything from nothing, simply you _can’t feel_ that is normal?”

Aoba had come to notice these facts about Noiz the more Noiz pestered him. There’s no way he could allow this man to take advantage of him, to know everything of him when he knew nothing of the other. His research returned him with results he didn’t expect, though. Besides knowing how Noiz was the most skilled warlock in this region, he also found out how he wasn’t able to feel, how his sensations were dull, how he wore face as blank as a piece of paper when he was applied physical pressure. Everything of Noiz interested him, but he needed to wait. Noiz was unique. He wasn’t _normal_ , that’s why he had to wait.

For the perfect timing to give him what he had always wanted.

“You’re trying to evoke something out of me,” Noiz breathed. “It’s no use.”

“I don’t care,” Aoba said, blunt.

“You don’t. But everyone else does.”

Aoba scowled. Noticing that, Noiz lifted a winning grin, leaning against the wall before he continued.

“The disappearances are drawing attention and inspections have been carried out. Soon, your so-called peace would be invaded – your home, this forest, would be run down by the authorities. They’ll seek for bodies, for trails of blood. There will be hounds, looking out for every single mistake you have dropped. Then, they’ll find _you_ , who have been carrying out experiments here in this small hut of yours, finding out that the smell of this space belongs to actual human beings, that all that you have done is taking lives and tearing them apart.”

“Woah,” Aoba could only slip one word out of his tongue. He clapped, walking in circles around Noiz, eyes wide as he stared unblinkingly at the warlock. “Why are you a warlock and not a detective, I wonder? Your words are amazing, you can summon ‘truth’ like how you cast a spell. Impressive.”

Aoba’s sarcasm obviously triggered a fire out of Noiz. Before he knew it, a few bottles fell from the shelf, crashing onto the floor and smearing thick colourful liquids all over the carpet.

“How rude,” Aoba smirked. “I’d need to spend time brewing them again.”

Part of Aoba’s research about Noiz also revealed how Noiz had the tendency to lose control of his own power. He’s a strong warlock, sure. But it came with a consequences. Thanks to himself being warped in constant flow of magic, elements around him could be affected by his mood, causing him to incite actions that he never intended in the first place.

He’s a dangerous person, yet Aoba never deemed him as so.

Because he knew he only needed one thing to be able to confront him.

“If you tell me the truth,” Noiz continued, trying to ignore the havoc he’d just caused in the house. “I can figure out a way for you.”

“No,” Aoba was quick to answer. “Not now.”

“Then _when_?” Noiz sounded impatient, catching Aoba in a surprise. “We don’t have–”

Before he could finish his words, he heard loud rustling of movements outside the hut. Tens, no, they sounded like hundreds of footsteps, all nearing the house, all rushed.

They were surrounded.

“Well, thanks for the very late warning,” Aoba joked. He adjusted the hat on his head, gripping his staff – one with a brain-shaped ornament on the top – and walked towards the door, just to find Noiz pulling him back.

“Wait,” Noiz whispered.

Aoba did as he was told. Noiz’s grip was firm, he was expecting him to spill a plan or something. But all he felt was a soft sensation against his cheek before Noiz moved past him, and right towards where a group of what seemed to be a group of armies waiting for them.

“We’re here to arrest the man living in this hut,” a man standing right in front of the group spoke upon seeing Noiz. “Warlock Noiz, please don’t get into our way.”

Noiz let out a small smile. He casted a quick backwards glance at Aoba, who returned with a smirk of his own.

“There are two men living in this hut,” Noiz said nonchalantly. “You’d have to arrest both of us.”

“Sir,” the man said. “If you say so, we’ll have to take you back under the crime of protecting a murderer.”

“Murderer?” Noiz released a chortle. “Who’s a murderer here?”

The next thing happened so fast that they barely had time to register. The next thing he knew, Aoba had sped up to him, pulling him to stand behind him, as if he was protecting him, before he hissed,

“Do your thing.”

Noiz didn’t need to be told twice. He took two steps back, allowing enough space for himself, and muttered under his breath. In no time, a barrier was pulled between both him and Aoba and the group of intruders.

“I won’t be able to hold long,” Noiz admitted.

“Well, you’re a warlock, do something,” Aoba demanded.

“And you?”

“I’ll do my thing. How long do you need?”

He didn’t need to ask Noiz what exactly he was about to do; they didn’t need to exchange words to know each other’s actions.

“Ten.”

Aoba smirked. “Sure.”

All of a sudden, he was running out of the barrier, smashing his way into the hundreds of people, taking down as many as he could. And once he returned to Noiz’s side on the ninth second, he took a deep breath, focusing his attention on the men charging their way towards them, then –

“ _ **Die**_.”

It happened like a wave. The barrier was lifted, a huge swarm of energy crashed its way towards the spread of human bodies lying across the clearance. And in the next minute, everything was gone, as if nothing had happened in the first place – no assaults, no men, just the both of them.

“Well, I guess that settles it then,” Aoba rubbed his hands, turning around just to see Noiz staring at him. “What?”

“So that’s your secret,” Noiz said with a deadpan expression.

“Oh,” Aoba said. “Oh well, since you knew about it…”

His expression changed, the golden colour of his eyes glinted brighter, his smirk pulled higher. He pulled their distance close, sniffing on Noiz’s neck before he bit hard on his skin, drawing blood.

“Hmmmm,” he hummed, tasting rust on his tongue. “Not too bad.”

He could feel Noiz’s usual smirk on his face, as if anticipating the next thing that was to happen. Aroused, he wrapped his arms around Noiz’s torso, feeling Noiz doing the same to him, and inched his mouth closer to his ears.

“Why not you… _**be mine**_ too?”

The disappearances in the forest was a myth – some said that no one could ever return if they ever set their foot into the forest, and most said that there lived a mysterious being in the place – a Mad Doctor – who preyed on beautiful men and decapitate them for his collection.

No one knew if any of the rumours were true – because all who knew could no longer tell anyone, anymore.


	28. Rusted Intensity [Noiz x Aoba]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a game of hit and run, of chased and be chased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Prompt** : Cyberpunk AU

The laser almost took his life away. Pressing his body against the wall, he caught his breath, retreating into an alley and trying hard to keep his eyes open when bright beams invaded his line of sight. His motorcycle was in a hideous state, completely destroyed as he let out a heavy sigh. His arm was burning, the laser created a scorching mark on his skin. Clicking his tongue, he sneaked his head out of the wall, just to make sure that he was left alone. He wasn’t. Slipping his hand into his coat, he pulled a shade out, put it up and grasping out a shotgun at the same time. It was a do or die situation. He had absolutely no idea why he was targeted; he was sure that he’d kept himself out of unwanted troubles all this while. Perhaps it was the machinery he had been handling; or perhaps he’d accidentally gained himself a few bad traces while he talked on the phone. No matter what it was, he was in deep trouble now and all that was ringing in his head was the urge to run, to save his own life.

He was about to make a run, but as soon as he stepped one foot out of his hiding place, he was grasped on the elbow by a firm arm, immediately causing him to turn around, about to defense himself before the man before him pressed two fingers against his lips.

“Shh.”

The moment he realized who the person was, he gaped, only came back to himself when the man before he let out a smirk he was more-than-familiar with, then lifting his own shotgun, his piercing pair of lime-green eyes scrutinizing dangerously from beneath his shades.

“Looks like we’re cornered by at least twenty people,” he said calmly. Aoba could hear the sound of running system around him, a rabbit cube jumping excitedly on Noiz’s shoulders, running holograms of streaming data all at the same time.

“You too?” he asked. And before he could even make sense of things, the man had pulled him to his back, gun raised, eyes alert, before he sent a sign at his rabbit cube.

“Go.”

And the last thing Aoba remembered was a loud explosion, along with a huge impact that was sustained by the man - Noiz - before he was pressed onto the floor, the bright light almost blinding his gaze.


End file.
